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QK47 

W3 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  DATE 
INDICATED  BELOW  AND  IS  SUB- 
JECT TO  AN  OVERDUE  FINE  AS 
POSTED  AT  THE  CIRCULATION 
DESK. 


THE 

BOTANIST. 

BEING 

THE  BOTANICAL  PART 

OF    A 

COURSE  OF  LECTURES 

ON 

NATURAL   HISTORY, 

delivered  in  the  university  at  Cambridge, 
together  with   a 

DISCOURSE 

ON 

THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  VITALITY. 
BY  BENJAMIN  WATERHOUSE,  M.  D. 

fellow  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  ; — of  the  Philosoph- 
ical Society  of  Philadelphia ;  and  of  Bath  ami  of  Manchester  in  England  ; 
Fellow  of  the  Medical  Society,  London  ; — of  the  Academy  of  Arts 
and  Sciences,  Belles  Lettres,  Inscriptions,  and  Commerce,  Mar- 
seilles ;  and  of  the  National  Medical  School  of  France  :  and 
Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Physic  in  the 
University  of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 

BOSTON : 

ISHED    BY    JOSEPH    T.    BUCKTNGHO; 
WINTER-STREET. 

1811. 


DISTRICT  OF  MASSACHUSETTS,  to  wit: 

District  Clerk's  Office. 

BE  it  remembered,  that  on  the  third  day  of  July,  A.  D.  1811,  and  ia 
the  thirty  fifth  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
Benjamin  Waterhouse  of  the  said  district  has  deposited  in  this  office  the 
title  of  a  book,  the  right  whereof  he  claims  as  author,  in  the  words  follow- 
ing, to  wit : 

"  The  Botanist.  Being  the  Botanical  Part  of  a  Course  of  Lectures  on 
Natural  History,  delivered  in  the  University  at  Cambridge.  Together 
with  a  Discourse  on  the  Principle  of  Vitality.  By  Benjamin  Waterhouse, 
M.  D.  Fellow  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  ;  of  the  Phi- 
losophical Society  of  Philadelphia;  and  of  Bath  and  of  Manchester  in  Eng- 
land ;  Fellow  of  the  Medical  Society,  London  ;  of  the  Academy  of  Arts 
and  Sciences,  Belle  Lettres,  Inscriptions,  and  Commerce,  Marseilles  ;  and 
of  the  National  Medical  School  of  France  :  and  Professor  of  the  Theory 
and  Practice  of  Physic  in  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts." 

In  conformity  to  the  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  intitled, 
"  an  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of 
maps,  charts  and  books,  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies,  dur- 
ing the  times  therein  mentioned  ;"  and  also  to  an  act,  intitled, "  an  act  sup- 
plementary to  an  act,  entitled,  an  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning, 
by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts  and  books,  to  the  authors  and  pro- 
prietors of  such  copies  during  the  times  therein  mentioned ;  and  extending 
the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing,  engraving  and  etching  histor- 
ical and  other  prints." 

WILLIAM.  S.  SHAW, 

Clerk  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts 


QK4'7 


THESE    ESSAYS    ARE    DEDICATED    TO 

JOHN    ADAMS,    LL.  D. 

PRESIDENT    OF    THE    MASSACHUSETTS    AGRICULTURAL 
SOCIETY  :     AND 

PRESIDENT    OF    THE    BOARD    OF    VISITORS    OF    THE     MAS- 
SACHUSETTS   PROFESSORSHIP    OF  NATURAL    HISTO- 
RY IN  THE    UNIVERSITY  OF    CAMBRIDGE  : 

AND 

PRESIDENT    OF    THE    AMERICAN    ACADEMY    OF    ARTS 
AND    SCIENCES  :     AND    LATE 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES  OF 
AMERICA. 

AS    A    TOKEN    OF    GRATITUDE    FOR    HIS     EARLY    RECOMMEN- 
DATION   OF    NATURAL   HISTORY    TO    HIS    COUNTRY- 
MEN,    AS    EXPRESSED    BY    HIS    ABLE    PEN 
IN    THE    CONSTITUTION  OF    THE 

COMMONWEALTH  OF  MASSACHUSETTS:* 

AND    AS    A    MARK  OF  THAT  ESTEEM    AND    RESPECT    FOR    HIS 
CHARACTER,    SOCIAL,  DOMESTIC,  LITERARY,  AND  PO- 
LITICAL,   LONG     ENTERTAINED      FOR    HIM    BY 

THE  AUTHOR. 
Cambridge,  July,  1811. 


*  See  chap.  V.  sec.  2. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


The  Essays,  entitled  the  "Botanist,"  which 
are  here  collected  in  one  volume,  appeared  first  in 
the  Monthly  Anthology,  printed  in  Boston  in  the 
summer  of  1804 ;  and  were  continued,  from  time 
to  time,  in  a  series  of  numbers,  down  to  1808. 
Their  appearance  was  occasioned  by  the  following 
circumstances  :  the  gentleman  who  commenced  the 
Monthly  Anthology  in  1803,  had  been  a  medical 
pupil,  under  the  particular  instruction  of  the  au- 
thor, and  made  frequent  applications  to  be  allowed 
to  publish,  in  his  new  work,  certain  portions  of  the 
Lectures  on  Natural  History,  which  had  been  giv- 
en in  the  University  of  Cambridge  ever  since  the 
year  1788  ;  and  which  this  editor  of  the  Anthology, 
and  some  other  pupils,  had  preserved  in  their  notes. 
The  author,  not  being  willing  to  trust  entirely  to 
their  discretion  in  the  selection,  nor  to  their  par- 
tiality in  the  phraseology,  made,  in  the.  year  follow- 


VI 


ing,  a  selection  for  himself,  from  the  botanical  part 
of  his  lectures.  His  individual  wish  was  to  com- 
mence the  selection  from  the  Mineralogical  part  of 
the  course ;  and  so  pass  on  to  the  Vegetable,  and 
close  with  the  Animal  kingdom  ;  but  he  relinquished 
it,  on  the  suggestion  that  mineralogy  would  be  less 
popular  than  botany  ;  and  therefore  less  adapted  to 
such  a  monthly  magazine  of  knowledge  and  plea- 
sure, as  the  Anthology  was  meant  to  be  ;  and  less 
likely  to  attract  the  attention  and  patronage  of  read- 
ers of  both  sexes, 

The  author  was  biassed  by  another,  and  a  strong- 
er reason,  in  favour  of  botany.  There  had  never 
been  any  lectures  on  Natural  History  in  the  United 
States  prior  to  the  course  referred  to.  Neither 
had  Botany  nor  Mineralogy  been  publickly  taught 
in  any  part  of  the  Union  anterior  to  the  year  1788  ; 
excepting,  indeed,  a  short  course  of  twelve  lectures, 
on  Natural  History  in  general,  given  by  the  author 
in  the  college  at  Providence,  in  the  years,  1786  and 
1787  ;  he  being,  at  the  same  time,  Professor  of  the 
Theory  and  Practice  of  Physic  in  the  University 
at  Cambridge. 

After  the  Lectures  on  Natural  History  had  been 
given  at  Cambridge,  four  or  five  years,  they  began 
to  excite  some  curiosity  beyond  the  walls  of  the 


Vll 


college  ;  and,  in  a  year  or  two  more,  several  gentle- 
men of  opulence  and  literary  influence  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  University,  came  to  the  resolution 
of  laying  a  foundation  for  a  Professorship  of  Bota- 
ny and  Entomology  ;  to  which  they  determined  to 
annex  an  extensive  Botanical  Garden.  Rejoiced  at 
a  prospect  of  seeing  accomplished,  by  a  rich  asso- 
ciation, what  he  had  long  anxiously,  and  alone, 
endeavoured  in  vain  to  effect,  the  author  of  these 
essays  did  every  thing  in  his  power  to  forward  the 
design.  The  business  began,  and  progressed  with 
a  zeal  bordering  on  enthusiasm.  Besides  a  sub- 
scription of  between  thirty  and  forty  thousand  dol- 
lars, the  Legislature  of  the  Commonwealth  gave 
two  townships  of  land  towards  maintaining  a  Pro- 
fessorship of  Natural  History,  and  for  a  Botanical 
Garden  at  Cambridge.  But  the  author  saw,  that 
amidst  all  this  ardour,  scarcely  one  in  ten  of  the 
subscribers  knew  exactly  what  they  were  subscrib- 
ing for.  Very  few  of  them  knew  what  a  Botanical 
Garden  was,  or  rather  what  its  objects  and  ends 
were  ;  yet  with  a  general  and  indistinct  idea,  that 
the  knowledge  of  plants  and  insects  would  be  of 
vast  benefit  to  the  community,  they  subscribed  to 
the  scheme  with  a  generosity  characteristic  of  New- 
England  merchants. 


viii 

Under  a  serious  impression,  that  the  Massachu 
setts  public  needed  more  information  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Natural  History  in  general ;  and  on  Botany, 
and  Botanical  Gardens  in  particular,  the  author  was 
induced  to  accommodate  these  extracts  from  his 
lectures  to  that  desirable  end ;  at  the  same  time, 
that  he  gratified  the  editors  of  the  work  in  which 
they  appeared.  It  was  a  delicate  task,  as  those 
most  forward  in  that  business,  must,  at  this  time, 
be  sensible. 

The  author  has  no  reason  to  be  much  dissatisfied 
with  the  reception  of  these  essays  by  the  public ; 
and  still  less  of  their  reception  by  a  succession  of 
editors  of  the  Monthly  Anthology  and  Boston  Re- 
view. 

From  what  has  been  said,  the  trans- atlantic  disci- 
ples ofLiNNJEus  will  see  the  reason,  and  therefore 
excuse  the  popular  dress,  in  which  Botany,  that 
beautiful  handmaid  of  Medicine,  has  been  introduc- 
ed to  the  inhabitants  of  a  region,  characteristically 
called  by  the  English  a  century  ago,  The  Wil- 
derness. 

Cambridge,  July  4,  1811. 


PREFACE, 


There  are  few  people  of  education  who  have 
not  a  pretty  accurate  idea  of  what  is  meant  by  the 
terms  Astronomy,  or  Chemistry  ;  but  there  are  not 
many  among  us,  who  have  a  satisfactory  idea  of 
the  term  Natural  History.  If  when  puzzled 
they  recur  to  the  meaning  of  words,  they  learn, 
that  Natural  History  is  a  treasure  of  the  mind  kept 
by  memory ;  whereas  most  people  conceive  it  to 
be  merely  a  knowledge  of  those  criteria  by  which 
we  are  enabled  to  distinguish,  at  first  sight,  one  nat- 
ural body  from  another  ;  and  therefore  instead  of 
an  history,  is  frequently  a  mere  description  of  a  fix- 
ed and  permanent  substance  :  and  if  they  consult 
those  splendid  and  costly  books,  in  which  the  gra- 
phic art  almost  equals  nature,  they  still  wonder 
why  those  pictures  are  called  histories,  since  they 
do  not  express  those  alterations  and  successive 
2 


x  PREFACE. 

changes,  which  the  earth,  and  all  that  it  produces 
undergoes  ;  and  which  alone  would  entitle  them  to 
the  name  of  histories.  In  recurring  again  to  books, 
they  find  that  histories  are  either  civil,  or  natural  ; 
that  civil  history  records  the  works  and  acts  of 
men  ;  and  they  thence  infer  that  Natural  history 
records  the  works  and  acts  of  nature  ;  but  that 
which  is  ordinarily  understood  by  the  term  Natural 
History,  leaves  the  acts  of  nature  out  of  the  quest- 
ion ;  and  circumscribes  the  knowledge  to  the  sight 
alone.  The  enquirer  is  still  at  a  loss  what  ideas  to 
annex  to  the  term  Nature.  When  he  is  told 
that  by  the  word  Nature,  we  mean  the  energy  of 
God,  seen  in  the  various  productions  that  replenish 
and  adorn  the  world,  he  is  silenced,  but  not  satisfied. 
In  the  course  of  the  last  year,  when  the  Lectures 
on  Natural  History,  as  well  as  the  Medical  Lec- 
tures, which  were  heretofore  given  at  this  Univer- 
sity, were  all  transferred  to  Boston,  Natural  Histo- 
ry became  a  subject  of  general  conversation  among 
characters  of  the  first  rank,  and  of  both  sexes. 
The  general  expression  of  those  who  attended  the 
lectures  was  sufficient  to  excite  a  suspicion  in  the 
author,  that  the  public  had  but  inadequate  ideas  of 
that  science  which  is  denominated  Natural  History ; 
seeing  that  men  of  the  first  rate  talents  and  educa- 


PREFACE.  xi 

tion  had  no  fixed  and  determinate  ideas  on  the  sub- 
ject. To  be  able  to  pronounce,  at  first  sight,  the 
name  of  each  mineral,  to  distinguish  one  genus  of 
plants  from  another,  and  to  discriminate  stuffed 
animals  in  a  museum,  were,  it  seems,  enough  to 
entitle  a  man  to  be  considered  a  Natural  Histo- 
rian ;  when,  at  the  same  time,  he  perhaps  knew 
nothing  of  the  anatomy  of  a  seed,  and  of  its  grad- 
ual development  into  a  perfect  plant  and  flower, 
producing  again  a  seed,  or  epitome  of  its  parent, 
capable  of  generating  its  kind  forever. 

That  profound  Natural  Historian  C.  Bonnet  of 
Geneva  exclaims,  "  what  ought  we  to  think  of  those 
boasted  Nomenclators,  or  of  that  which  they  pre- 
sume to  give  us  for  the  System  of  Nature  ?  It  is 
like  a  scholar  undertaking  to  compile  an  index  to  a 
large  folio  volume,  of  which  he  has  only  read  the 
title,  and  first  pages.  I  do  not  mean  to  censure  the 
writers  of  Dictionaries  :  they  endeavour  to  reduce 
our  knowledge  to  order  ;  but  I  affirm,  that  consid- 
ered simply,  they  will  never  make  any  great  discov- 
eries. I  should  have  a  greater  esteem  for  a  good 
treatise  on  a  single  insect,  than  for  a  whole  insecto- 
logical  dictionary :  because  definitions  and  divis- 
ions are  not  history ;  and  people  too  easily  per- 
suade themselves  that  they  understand  history,  when. 


iii  PREFACE. 

they  only  know  in  the  gross  the  persons  it  consists 
of."  Our  classes  and  genera  will  be  often  put  out 
of  course  by  new  beings,  which  we  know  not  where 
to  fix,  because  we  suffer  ourselves  to  be  too  hasty 
in  making  distributions." 

The  objects  in  nature  are  "like  the  colours  of  the 
rainbow,  of  which  the  dullest  eye  can  perceive  the 
varieties,  while  the  keenest  cannot  catch  the  precise 
point,  at  which  every  separate  tint  is  parted  from 
its  neighbouring  hue."* 

Nature,  coeval  with  matter,  never  ceases  to 
operate  ;  but  then  she  occupies  whole  ages,  in 
some  of  her  works,  while  man  remains  too  short  a 
time  on  earth  to  observe  and  to  record  them.  Eve- 
ry thing  that  he  sees  has  been  more  than  once  han- 
dled by  Nature.  This  globe  has  been  penetrated 
by  fire,  and  covered  and  acted  upon  by  water  ; 
and  great  changes  have  been  the  result.  Thus,  in 
smaller  things,  a  piece  of  wood  having  been  chang- 
ed by  fire  into  charcoal,  passes  from  thence  through 
various  changes  of  refinement  and  excellency,  till, 
at  length  it  becomes  a  concrete  of  elementary  fire 
and  light,  in  the  form  and  qualities  of  a  diamond. 
He  who  traces  and  records  these  things  is  indeed  a 
Natural  Historian  :  so  is  he,  who  knowing  the  an- 

*  Adams,  p.  2S8,  vol.  M. 


PREFACE.  xiii 

atomy  of  an  egg,  is  able  to  trace  its  evolutions  into 
a  perfect  animal,  and  thence  through  all  its  succes- 
sive stages  to  its  acme,  or  perfection  ;  and  so  in 
like  manner,  of  a  vegetable  from  a  seed. 

Is  there  not  then  a  distinction,  in  the  very  nature 
of  things,  between  a  mere  describer  of  what  Ad- 
dison calls  "  the  shell  of  the  world,"  and  "  the 
world  of  life  ?"  There  appears  to  be  as  much  dif- 
ference between  the  nomenclator  of  a  museum  of 
natural  bodies,  and  a  natural  historian,  that  is  an 
historiographer  of  the  economy  of  nature,  as  there 
is  between  the  mere  anatomist,  or  dissector  of  the 
human  body,  and  its  physiologist. 

Passing  from  Natural  History  in  general  to  one 
of  its  branches,  may  we  not  ask  if  the  like  confined 
notion  of  Botany  does  not  prevail  ?  To  know  the 
name  of  a  plant,  and  to  be  able  to  ascertain  its  place 
in  the  Linnsan  system,  is,  in  the  opinion  of  many, 
to  be  a  botanist  ;  although  such  a  person  may  be 
entirely  unacquainted  with  its  anatomy,  or  organic 
structure,  and  ignorant  of  its  peculiar,  or  medicinal 
qualities  ;  as  well  as  of  the  nature  of  its  food,  and 
the  means  of  its  nourishment  ;  yet  these  are  the 
things  which  principally  govern  its  nature. 

It  is  of  importance  however  that  one  universal 
language  should  be  adopted  by  botanists  ;  but  it  i<* 


siv  PREFACE. 

wrong  to  make  that,  and  classification  the  primary 
object.  Agreeably  to  this  doctrine  is  the  sentiment 
of  the  famous  Rosseau,  who,  in  his  Letters  on  the 
Elements  of  Botany,  says,  "  I  have  always  thought 
it  possible  to  be  a  very  great  botanist,  without  know- 
ing so  much  as  one  plant  by  name." 

The  author  has  been  desirous  of  giving  the 
young  gentlemen  in  this  University  a  more  enlarged 
view  of  Natural  History  in  general,  and  of  Botany 
in  particular,  than  what  has  commonly  been  taken 
of  them.  Whether  the  Botanist  has  contributed 
to  enlarge  the  sphere  of  their  vision,  is  not  for  him 
to  determine.  He  by  no  means  considers  himself 
a  master  in  the  science.  Physic  is  his  profession ; 
and  Natural  History  his  amusement.  During  a 
residence  of  several  years  in  the  family  of  the  cele- 
brated Dr.  Fothergill  in  London,  he  acquired  there 
a  taste  for  the  works  of  nature  ;  but  has  endeav- 
oured to  follow  the  advice  of  his  venerable  kinsman, 
"  never  to  suffer  Natural  History  to  supersede 
Medicine  ;  but  to  regard  it  only  as  an  agreeable 
adjunct  to  the  healing  art." 


THE    EOTANIST. 


N°.  I. 

Cambridge,  June,  1804. 

As  Natural  History  is  a  subject  that  has 
excited  some  attention  for  more  than  a  dozen  years 
past  at  the  University  in  this  place ;  and  as  that 
branch  of  it  denominated  Botany  has  lately  become 
a  topic  of  conversation,  and  likely  to  become  more 
so,  we  have  thought  that  it  would  conduce  to  good, 
if  we  laid  before  the  public  a  few  essays  on  this 
pleasant  department  of  nature. 

Natural  History,  taken  in  its  greatest  extent,  is, 
perhaps  the  most  delightful  of  all  the  Sciences.  It 
fills  the  mind  with  the  greatest  variety  of  ideas ;  and 
has  this  encouraging  circumstance  annexed  to 
it,  that  no  closeness  of  inspection,  or  keenness  of  in- 
vestigation ever  brings  weariness,  or  disgust :  for 
in  studying  it,  gratification  and  appetite  are  perpetu- 
ally interchanging.  The  study  of  Nature,  like  the 
contemplations  of  religion,  is  "  forever  rising  with 
the  rising  mind."     Nature  opens  to  genius  that  im- 


Library 
N,   C.   State    College 


1G  THE    BOTANIST. 

mense  horizon,  in  which  to  the  end  of  time,  it  may 
exercise  its  strength,  and  at  every  step  behold  the 
boundary  receding  to  a  greater 'distance  I  No  mind 
is  so  capacious  but  is  filled  full,  and  often  more  than 
full ;  for  the  contemplations  of  Nature  sometimes 
overwhelm  the  mind  with  undiscerning  amazement ! 

If  Natural  History  forms,  as  Lord  Bacon  says, 
the  basis  of  all  the  sciences,  it  is  certainly  a  study  of 
the  first  importance  to  our  youth.  It  is  of  more 
importance  than  even  Natural  Philosophy,  which 
only  aims  to  teach  those  quiescent  forms  of  Nature, 
which  all  bodies  indiscriminately  possess,  as  exten- 
sion, figure,  durability,  and  vis  inertia  ;  whereas  the 
Natural  Historian  describes  and  aims  to  explain  the 
growing,  or  living  state  of  organized  bodies,  as  well 
as  their  structure  after  life  has  departed. 

When  the  Lectures  on  Natural  History  commen- 
ced at  this  University,  it  was  found  that  our  youth 
had  scarcely  any  idea  of  what  was  meant  by  Natu- 
ral History  ;  and  even  now,  men  of  education  have 
an  inadequate  idea  of  what  is  comprehended  under 
that  term.  It  is  not,  as  they  conceive  merely,  a  dry 
description  of  that  which  strikes  the  eye  only  of  the 
spectator.  The  Natural  Historian  is  led  to  explore 
the  origin,  or  primordium  of  organized  bodies  ;  and 
to  trace  their  gradual  development  to  a  perfect  plant, 
or  animal ;  and  to  expatiate  on  their  accretion,  or 
growth  up  to  their  destined  magnitude  ;  and  from 
thence  to  their  dissolution.  The  Naturalist  treats 
not  only  of  matter,  as  an  elementary  constituent  in 
composite  substances,  which  appertains  in  common 


THE   BOTANIST.  17 

to  all  bodies,  but  he  is  compelled  to  investigate  also 
that  efficient  cause,  or  moving  principle  which  asso- 
ciates these  elements  ;  and  which  employs  them 
when  associated,  according  to  their  various  and  pe- 
culiar characters.  Within  this  wide  view  of  Nature, 
its  historian  discovers,  or  imagines  that  he  discovers 
a  division  of  things,  which  he  calls  the  Three 
Kingdoms  of  Nature,  namely- —the  Mineral,  the 
Vegetable,  and  the  Animal.  One  of  them  only  at- 
tracts our  attention,  at  this  time,  viz.  the  Vegetable. 
We  wish  to  give  to  the  term  Botany  a  wider 
scope  than  is  generally  allowed  to  it.  We  would 
define  Botany  to  be  that  branch  of  Natural  History 
which  teaches  the  anatomy,  physiology,  and  econo- 
my of  vegetables. 

Some  of  the  leading  principles  of  this  charming 
science  we  mean  to  extend  through  a  series  of 
monthly  essays ;  but  in  an  order  a  little  different 
from  that  found  in  books.  We  shall  give  our  doc- 
trine a  dress  partaking  more  of  the  popular,  than  of 
the  scientific  garb  ;  as  much  of  the  former,  as  not 
to  disguise  this  beautiful  handmaid  of  Medicine ; 
and  yet  not  so  divested  of  the  latter,  as  to  displease 
the  eye  of  the  most  rigid  disciple  of  the  Linnsean 
school.  We  avow  Linv^eus  to  be  our  lawful 
chief;  and  his  Philosophia  Botanica  our  rallying 
point  and  standard.  In  acknowledging  him  our 
teacher  and  leader  in  the  field  of  Botany,  we  wish 
to  refer  the  learned  reader  to  his  admirable  writings 
for  the  reasons  of  tnis  our  attachment. 


18  THE    BOTANIST. 

Whoever  casts  his  eyes  on  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
at  this  season*  will  see  that  it  is  covered  and  adorn- 
ed with  a  beautiful  green  carpet  of  vegetables,  which 
carpet  is  spread  anew  every  year.  If  after  viewing, 
and  admiring  its  agreeable  effect,  and  after  reflecting 
on  its  annual  renovation,  the  student  of  nature  should 
take  the  pains  of  examining  any  individual  plant,  of 
which  this  carpet  is  composed,  he  will  find  that  the 
stem,  or  trunk  of  each  vegetable  is  not  like  a  lump 
of  clay,  or  piece  of  dough  ;  but  that  it  has  an  inter- 
nal adjustment,  arrangement,  or  disposition  of  its 
matter  into  tubes  and  vessels,  which  is  called  for 
that  reason,  organization.  If  he  view  the  plant 
through  a  microscope,  he  will  discover  in  it  different 
orders  of  vessels,  like  those  of  an  animal ;  and  should 
he  submit  it  to  a  careful  and  nice  anatomical  inves- 
tigation, he  will  be  convinced  that  a  plant  possesses 
a  vascular  system.  If  he  compares  it  with  those 
things  which  belong  to  the  other  two  kingdoms,  he 
will  see  that  a  plant  occupies  a  middle  space  between 
animals  and  minerals.  On  still  closer  examination 
he  will  find  that  it  partakes  of  the  nature  of  both.  If 
he  pluck  it  up  by  the  roots,  he  perceives  that  its  ap- 
pearance is  directly  changed,  for  it  loses  its  turges- 
cency,  colour  and  specific  odour  :  or  in  other  words, 
it  fades,  wilts  and  dies,  and  is  finally  decomposed. 
Hence  the  inquirer  learns  that  a  growing  plant  is 
not  only  a  regularly  organized  body,  possessing  a 
vascular  system,  but  is,  while  attached  to  the  ground 
by  its  roots,  a  living  one.    That  this  view  of  a  plant 

*  June. 


THE    BOTANIST.  19 

is  agreeable  to  truth  may  be  inferred  from  consult- 
in  the  best  authors  on  Botany  :  thus  the  illustrious 
Boerhaave  defines  a  plant  to  be  a  hydraulic  body, 
containing  vessels,  replete  with  different  juices,  by 
means  of  which  it  derives  the  matter  of  its  nutri- 
ment and  growth  ;  to  which  he  might  have  added, 
possessing  the  power  of  producing  its  kind  forever 
by  seed. 

Although  agriculture  and  gardening  are  of 
prime  importance  to  civilized  man,  they  have  con- 
tinued to  be  only  arts,  consisting  of  detached  facts, 
and  vague  opinions,  without  a  true  history  to  con- 
nect them.  And  the  first  step  towards  giving  Bot- 
any the  stability  of  a  science  is  to  submit  a  plant  to 
anatomical  investigation,  as  we  do  animals ;  that 
being,  says  Dr.  A.  Hunter,  the  only  rational  meth- 
od of  arriving  at  any  certainty  concerning  the  laws 
of  the  vegetable  economy;  and  without  it,  agricul- 
ture, that  useful,  important,  and  honourable  profes- 
sion, must  ever  remain  a  vague  and  uncertain  study. 

In  teaching  Botany,  different  authors  have  adopted 
different  plans.  Some  begin  with  a  description  of 
the  leaf;  then  of  the  stem  ;  next  the  flower;  after- 
wards the  fruit,  strictly  so  called,  and  lastly  the  seed. 
Others  commence  with  the  flower,  then  they  des- 
cribe the  fruit  and  seed  conjunctly,  and  lastly  the 
root.  We  shall  pursue  a  different  order.  We  shall 
begin  with  describing  a  seed ;  after  demonstrating 
its  structure,  we  shall  show  that  every  seed  contains, 
under  several  membranes,  the  future  plant  in  minia- 
ture.    There  we  may  see  by  the  help  of  a  micro- 


20  THE   BOTANIST. 

scope,  that  the  embryo  plant  has,  not  only  a  little 
radicle,  which  is  hereafter  to  become  the  root,  but 
also  two  diminutive  leaves,  which  hereafter  become 
the  herb.  We  shall  then  endeavour  to  show  how 
the  embryo  plant,  when  placed  in  a  due  degree  of 
moisture,  and  a  just  degree  of  heat,  and  at  such  a 
proper  depth  in  the  ground,  as  not  to  exclude  it  from 
the  vivifying  influence  of  the  air,  gradually  unfolds 
itself;  the  radicle  extending  itself  into  a  root,  which 
attaches  itself  to  the  earth,  and  the  little  leaf  aspir- 
ing into  a  stem.  We  shall  show  how  the  foetal  plant 
is  supported  by  that  part  of  the  seed,  which  answers 
to  the  albumen^  or  white  of  an  egg,  until  it  is  able 
to  appear  above  ground,  when  this  temporary  nutri- 
tive part  drops  off  and  decays,  leaving  the  plant,  in 
future,  to  grow,  and  to  flourish,  by  imbibing  solid 
nourishment  from  its  mother  earth  ;  and  by  inspir- 
ing vital  air  ;  and  by  inhaling  the  celestial  light. 

Delightful  as  Natural  History  really  is,  the  study 
of  it  is  not  here  recommended  to  amuse  the  idle,  or 
gratify  the  fanciful.  We  Americans  dwell  in  an 
agricultural  country  ;  and  agriculture  is  the  sure  and 
certain  support  of  a  nation.  It  gives  to  a  country 
the  only  riches  that  it  can  call  its  own.  Tacitus  says, 
that  the  Romans  were  several  times  reduced  nearly 
to  famine,  by  depending  on  Egypt  and  Africa  for 
grain  ;  instead  of  relying  on  the  prolific  vigour  of 
their  own  Italian  soil :  and  thus,  says  this  celebrated 
historian,  were  the  lives  of  the  Roman  people  com- 
mitted to  the  caprice  of  the  winds  and  waves.  If 
commerce  bind  the  world  together  in  a  golden  chain, 


THE    BOTANIST.  21 

that  chain  is  frequently  broken  by  the  wars  of  men, 
and  by  the  wars  of  the  elements;  while  agriculture 
gives  us  the  staff  of  life,  and  the  chief  support  of  our 
independence. 

Commerce  is  congenial  to  all  of  us  who  sojourn 
near  »;he  sea ;  and  is  indeed  the  grand  source  of 
wealth,  comfort  and  power ;  but  with  riches,  com- 
merce,  coo  often,  imports  effeminating  luxuries  ; 
whereas  agriculture  is  an  athletic  task,  kindly  im- 
posed upon  man,  by  a  beneficent  Creator,  as  the 
best  means  of  preserving  his  health  and  his  innocence. 

Now  the  ground- work  of  this  salutiferous  and  hon- 
orable profession  is  the  science  of  Botany,  in  the 
enlarged  sense,  which  we  have  given  to  this  branch 
of  Natural  History. 

It  may  perhaps  be  said  that  this  branch  of  knowl- 
edge has  not  been  neglected  among  us ;  and  that  the 
seeds  of  it,  at  least,  were  sown,  sixteen  years  since, 
at  Cambridge.* — Be  it  so — Their  growth  has  nev- 
ertheless been  slow.  Whether  this  has  been  owing 
to  the  soil,  or  the  cultivator,  we  leave  to  the  investi- 
gation of  others  ;  observing  only,  that  a  private  in- 

•  At  a  Meeting  of  the   President  and  Fellows  of  Harvard   College, 
April  29,  1 788, 

Voted,  that  Dr  Waterhouse  deliver  annually  a  course  of  Lectures  on 
Natural  History  to  such  students  as  shall  obtain  permission,  under  the 
hands  of  their  Parents  or  Guardians  to  attend ;  for  each  of  which  stu- 
dents he  shall  receive  one  Guinea,  to  be  charged  in  their  quarter  bill*. 

JOSEPH  WILLARD,  President. 
This  Vote  concurred  by  the  Overseers,  May  8,  1 788. 

S.  HOWARD,  Secretary. 
The  history  of  the  progress  and  termination  of  these  Lectures  at  Cam- 
bridge will  soon  be  given  to  the  public. 


22  THE    BOTANIST. 

dividual,  however  cordially  disposed  to  rear  the 
"  Nemorale  Templum"  can  do  but  little  without 
the  assistance,  support  and  co-operation  of  the  eon- 
stituied  Jautoi^es  of  science  and  of  governme nt. 

A  clergyman  of  Scotland,  the  Rev.  Charles  Cor- 
diner,  in  a  splendid  work  on  "  ancient  monuments 
"  and  singular  subjects  of  Natural  History,  in  North 
"  Britain,"  speaking  of  the  Marischal  College  of 
Aberdeen,  remarks,  that  "  it  is  a  good  proposal,  now 
in  agitation  to  add  Lectures  on  Agriculture  and  Bot- 
any to  the  general  course  of  education.  That  the 
former,  if  understood  on  scientific  principles,  would 
be  of  high  importance  to  the  improvement  of  the 
country.  Botany  is  intimately  connected  with  agri- 
culture and  medicine  :  knowledge  of  that  must  prove 
of  great  consequence  to  all  who  are  to  spend  their 
lives  in  the  country.  The  general  body  of  the  cler- 
gy, as  well  as  the  proprietors  of  landed  estates,  are 
therefore  particularly  interested  in  the  success  of 
these  studies.  Besides,  the  sons  of  farmers,  by  the 
easy  terms  on  which  attendance  at  the  college  is  ob- 
tained, can  easily  acquire  that  useful  instruction, 
which  might  prepare  their  minds  for  a  more  judi- 
cious application  of  their  industry  and  talents.  The 
more  general  diffusion  of  knowledge,  and  of  the  ex- 
perience from  whence  it  is  derived,  must  confer  su- 
perior advantages  on  youth,  in  all  the  different  walks 
of  life.  The  prosperity  of  a  commercial  city  is  even 
promoted  by  such  a  seminary." 

Lord  Kaimes,  long  since,  advocated  a  similar 
©pinion;    and  recommended  that  the  subjects  of 


THE   BOTANIST.  23 

Natural  History  should  be  treated  in  Lectures  in  a 
general  way,  mixed  with  reasonings.  The  mere 
narrative  of  detached  facts,  and  concise  description 
of  a  plant,  animal  or  mineral,  is  indeed  as  tedious 
to  the  aspiring  youth  as  it  is  useless.  It  is  the 
qualities  and  economy  of  the  plant ;  the  instincts, 
powers  and  faculties  of  the  animal ;  and  the  virtues 
and  uses  of  the  mineral  that  constitute  that  code  of 
knowledge  which  is  so  useful  and  ornamental  to  ev- 
cry  gentleman  in  his  pabs..ge  through  life.  Instead 
of  trammelling  the  minds  of  young  people,  and 
cramping  inquiry  by  engaging  in  disputes  about 
classifications  and  systems,  so  called,  let  us  rather 
study  the  accordance,  relationship,  and  conformity, 
which  the  different  objects  bear  to  one  another,  and 
to  ourselves.  The  construction  of  the  Temple  is 
impeded  by  disputes  about  the  ladders  and  the  scaf- 
folds. 

Some  complain  that  the  science  of  Botany  is  in- 
cumbered, and  overloaded  with  technical  terms.  Our 
great  master  Linnaeus  wrote  in  Latin.  Sometimes 
he  gives  generic  names  compounded  of  two  entire 
Latin  words ;  but  he  uses  commonly,  such  com- 
pound words  in  the  Greek  language,  as  are  more 
expressive  as  well  as  more  beautiful.  Beginners  are 
sometimes  daunted  by  this  terrific  style.  They 
are  apt  to  conclude  that  good  sense  has  not  fair  play 
when  thus  oppressed  by  hard  words.  They  do  not 
perhaps  know  that  Lin.vjeus  has  simplified  the  bo- 
tanical  langu  ige  of  '";i:>  predecessors.  Before  his  day, 
we  had  Hydrophyllocarpodemiron,  and  StacJiynrpo- 


S&  THE    BOTANIST. 

gophora.*  To  convey  botanical  descriptions  in  a 
plain,  simple,  yet  intelligible  language  to  the  merely 
English  reader  is  a  difficulty  still  to  be  encountered* 
There  is  another  difficulty  of  a  more  delicate  nature. 
The  sexual  system  of  Botany  is  founded  on  a  dis- 
covery that  there  is  in  vegetables,  as  in  animals,  a 
distinction  of  sexes.  But  there  are  those  who  think 
that  Linnjeus  has  drawn  the  analogy  too  close,  and 
continued  it  too  long.  The  analogy  between  the 
structure  and  functions  of  the  higher  class  of  ani- 
mals and  vegetables  is  remote ;  but  the  analogy  be- 
tween the  higher  order  of  vegetables  and  those  out- 
skirts of  animated  nature,  the  Vermes,  and  Insects, 
is  closer  than  is  commonly  known. 

The  botanical  phraseology  sometimes  embarrasses 
the  teacher.  We  hope  however  to  parry  this  diffi- 
culty, if  not  entirely  surmount  it.  In  our  next  num- 
ber we  shall  give  the  anatomy  of  a  seed;  and  also 
treat  of  thejbod  of  plants. 

*  See  Boerhaave. 


Library 
N.   C.   State    College 


THE   BOTANIST. 

N°.  II. 

Qmne  -vlvum  ex  ovo  ;  per  consequent  etiam  vegetalilia  ;  quorum  Semina  esse  OV£ 
itcet  eorum  Finis,  sob  ok m parentibus  conformem  pmducens. 

Linnjeus,  Philos.  B.itanica. 

Every  living  thing  derives  its  origin  from  an  Egg,  and  consequently 
vegetables,  whose  seeds  are  Eggs  :  this  appears,  by  their  producing  off- 
spring, similar  to  the  parent  plant. 

In  describing  a  Plant,  we  shall  adopt  a  different 
order,  from  that  commonly  pursued  by  botanists. 
We  deem  it  more  agreeable  to  the  laws  of  botanic- 
al philosophy,  to  begin  with  the  description  of  a  seed; 
and  to  trace  its  gradual  development  into  a  perfect 
plant,  producing  seed  again,  than  to  reverse  this 
procedure,  as  is  commonly  done,  by  treating  of  the 
seed  last. 

A  seed  of  a  plant  and  an  egg  of  a  bird  are  so 
analogous  in  their  structure  and  economy,  that  we 
may,  without  impropriety,  use  the  same  term  for 
either.  By  a  seed  then  we  mean  an  organized  pan  icle, 
produced  by  a  plant,  or  animal,  from  which  new 
plants,  and  new  animals  are  generated.  All  seeds  of 
plants  and  all  eggs  of  animals  have  essentially  the 
same  structure,  and  the  same  mode  of  development. 

A  perfect,  or  fecundated  hen's  egg  is  an  organiz- 
ed body,  pervaded  by  vessels,  and  endowed  with  that 
humble  portion  of  life,  or  capability  of  living,  which, 
in  the  scale  of  vitality,  we  denote  by  the  term  excita- 
bility ;  and  is  replete  with  a  moveable  frmd,  and  in- 
4 


2S  THE    BOTANIST. 

closing,  under  divers  membranes,  the  animal  in  min- 
iature. The  egg-shell  is  almost  entirely  filled  with  a 
glutinous  substance,  laid  up  for  the  nourishment  of  the 
foetal  animal :  the  one  is  called  the  albumen,  or  white  ; 
the  other  vitellus,  or  yolk.  In  the  latter  is  the  cica- 
tricula,  or  punctum  vita,  whieh  is  about  the  size  of 
the  seed  of  the  vetch,  or  small  pea,  and  has  a  consid- 
erable resemblance  to  the  pupil  of  the  eye.  It  is  in 
this  spot  that  the  first  palpitation,  or  signs  of  life  ap- 
pear, in  consequence  of  the  application  of  heat. 

If  the  egg  be  kept  in  a  certain  degree  of  warmth, 
whether  by  the  natural  heat  of  the  parent  animal, 
or  by  art,  as  in  stoves,  it  occasions  an  increased  ac- 
tion of  that  vis  vita,  or  living  power,  which  every 
organized  body,  susceptible  of  stimulus,  naturally 
possesses  ;  and  which,  being  a  momentary  disten- 
tion of  the  smallest  vessels,  is  similar  to  a  blush  ;  or 
rather  that  state  of  them,  which  immediately  pre- 
cedes the  slightest  inflammation.  Motion  thus  be- 
gun, the  vessels,  surrounding  and  pervading  the 
punctum  vita,  expand  ;  and  the  embryo  appears 
spontaneously  to  unfold  itself,  until  by  slow  de- 
grees, it  develops,  like  a  flower,  and  becomes  a  per- 
fect animal,  capable  of  producing  a  similar  €gg. 

Now  every  seed  of  a  plant  is,  in  like  manner,  an 
organized  body,  endowed  with  vessels,  and  contains, 
under  several  membranes,  the  plant  in  miniature  ; 
which  seed  requires  a  due  portion  of  moisture, 
and  a  just  degree  of  heat  for  exciting  the  dormant 
vegetative  life,  which  distending  gradually  the  ves- 
sels, expands  the  several  membranes,  and  develops 


THE    BOTANIST.  27 

the  plant.  The  embryo  plant  lies  in  a  sleeping  state, 
though  alive  ;  but  exerts  not  its  life,  until  it  is  put 
in  proper  circumstances,  which  proper  circumstan- 
ces are  moisture,  heat,  and  some  exposure  to  the 
influence  of  the  air. 

Every  seed  of  a  vegetable,  and  every  egg  of  an  an- 
imal hitherto  examined,  are  in  structure  essentially 
the  same.  To  grow,  that  is,  to  nourish  itself,  by 
changing  a  foreign  matter  into  its  own  substance,  and 
to  continue  its  kind,  is  the  end  and  aim  of  every  liv- 
ing organized  body.  Let  us  examine  the  seed  of 
a  vegetable,  that  we  may  see  how  far  such  a  body  is 
adapted  to  effect  these  important  purposes.  The 
Windsor  bean,  or,  as  we  call  it  in  this  country,  the 
English-bean,  from  its  size  and  shape,  affords  us  the 
fairest  example.  If,  when  such  a  bean  is  fully  ripe, 
you  cut  through  its  membranes  lengthwise,  in  the 
direction  of  the  eye,  hilum,  or  little  scar,  it  will  nat- 
urally separate  into  halves.  Simple  maceration 
will  have  the  same  effect  without  cutting.  These 
smooth  and  equal  parts  of  the  bean  are  called  seed- 
lobes  by  gardeners,  and  cotyledons  by  botanists.  Of 
those  seeds,  that  we  use  for  food,  they  form  the  more 
farinaceous  or  nutritive  part :  thus  in  wheat,  rye, 
and  Indian-corn,  they  form  the  meal,  while  the  in- 
vesting membranes  form  the  bran. 

The  most  important  part  oi  the  seed  is  the  em- 
bryo ;  and  the  most  important  part  of  the  embryo 
is  the  corculum,  or  little  heart,  punctum  viiae,  or 
speck  of  life  ;  because  at  this  point  in  the  hen's  tgg 
the  first  pulsation  ©f  life  is  discovered ;  but  in  the 


28  THE    BOTANIST. 

seed  of  a  plant,  there  is  no  palpable  motion.  The 
whole  seminal  apparatus,  contained  within  the  ex- 
ternal membrane  of  the  bean,  and  which  corres- 
ponds with  the  albumen,  and  vitellus,  in  the  bird's 
egg,  conspires,  when  acted  upon  by  heat,  to  elicit 
the  latent  spark  of  vegetative  life  ;  and  to  nourish  af- 
terwards the  unborn  plant. 

When  the  miniature  plant  is  separated  from  the 
seed  lobes,  we  can  easily  discern  the  leaf  which  is 
called  the  plumula,  or  that  part  which  is  hereafter 
to  become  the  herb  of  the  bean  ;  and  likewise  the 
rostellum,  or  radicle,  which  creeping  downwards  be- 
comes the  root.  The  cotyledons,  or  lobes  of  the  bean 
taken  collectively,  without  any  discrimination  of  al- 
bumen, or  vitellus,  appear  through  a  microscope,  to 
be  of  a  glandular  structure  ;  and  to  have  a  regular 
system  of  vessels,  resembling  the  placental  veins 
in  quadrupeds  ;  and  to  run  together,  like  them,  in  a 
few  trunks,  precisely  at  that  point  of  the  lobe,  where 
the  embryo  grows  to  the  cotyledons.* 

Botanists  define  cotyledons  to  be  the  lateral,  bibu- 
lous, perishable  lobes  or  placenta  of  the  seed,  des- 
tined to  nou  ish  the  corculum,  and  then  to  foil  off. 
Now  these  lobes,  afford  a  nutritive  juice,  resem- 
bli  ig  milk,  for  the  sustenance  of  the  unborn  plant: 
but  when  the  tender  vegetable  is  so  far  advanced 
as  to  merit  the  name  of  an  infantile  plant,  these 
evanescent  lobes  are  converted  into  a  pair  of  thick 
seed-leaves,  which  compose  a  shield  of  defence,  un- 
til the  plant  has  fairly  and  firmly  taken  root  in  the 

*  See  Grew's  Anatomy  of  Plants,  plate  79.  80.  81.  &  83. 


THE    BOTANTST.  f» 

earth  ;  then  these  two  protecting  leaves  drop  off  and 
decay.  And  now  the  little,  erect  plant,  depends, 
like  the  just  born  infant,  on  a  nexv  principle  for  its 
future  existence. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  is  apparent,  that 
when  a  hen's-egg  is  alive,  it  is  fit  to  be  eaten  ;  but 
if  killed,  whether  by  too  much  heat,  or  by  too  great 
cold,  or  by  violent  concussion,  or  by  being  sat  upon 
by  the  bird,  and  then  abandoned,  it  soon  becomes 
rotten.  So  in  like  manner  a  seed,  though  kept  sev- 
eral years,  is  not  a  dead  substance,  like  a  pebble  or 
a  pearl ;  but  is  a  body  regularly  organized,  and  ar- 
ranged harmoniously  into  a  system  of  vessels,  glands, 
and  membranes ;  and  it  is  moreover,  like  a  pro- 
lific €gg,  alive,  or  at  least,  in  a  state,  or  fitness  to  be 
acted  upon  by  certain  external  agents,  which  agents 
are   fire,   air,  and  water. 

Some  seeds  will  retain  the  vegetative  life  a  great 
number  of  years.  Indian  corn  has  vegetated  after 
keeping  it  upwards  of  seventy  years.  We  neglected 
to  mention,  that  there  was  a  small  quantity  of  vital  air 
in  a  sack,  bladder,  or  partition,  at  the  big  end  of  every 
bird's  es;^  ;  and  we  presume,  that  there  is  a  portion 
of  the  same  kind  of  fluid  in  every  seed  ;  or  it  may 
be  oxygen  in  a  concentrated  state,  which  is  afterwards 
combined  with  caloric  in  the  process  of  incubation. 
It  appears  also,  that  the  most  important,  nay  the  essen- 
tial part  of  that  organized  body  denominated  a  seed, 
is  the  embryo ;  for  it  is  that  part  alone  which  grows 
into  a  new  plant,  beginning  again  a  new  progeny. 
It  likewise  appears,  that  all  the  other  parts  of  the  seed 


SO  THE    BOTANIST. 

are  subservient  to  this  ;  and  that  they  arc  employed 
chiefly  in  converting  the  farina,  or  mealy  substance 
of  the  seed  into  a  lactescent  fluid,  which  is  conveyed 
by  the  lactiferous  vessels  to  the  embryo  for  its  nour- 
rishment,  which,  like  the  infantile  animal,  is  supplied 
ivith  milk,  until  it  can  stand  alone  in  the  ground. 

Although  nature  has  established  a  marked  uni- 
formity in  the  internal  structure  of  seeds,  she  never- 
theless displays  an  astonishing  vai  iety  in  their  exter- 
nal appearance.  Neither  mathematician  nor  painter 
can  ever  convey  adequate  ideas  of  their  different 
shapes,  and  variegated  colours.  Some  shine  like  sil- 
ver, and  some  like  gold  ;  whilst  others  appear  like 
little  balls  of  fire.  It  is  remarkable  that  seeds  are 
seldom  of  the  same  colour  with  the  flower,  which 
produced  them.  Seeds  of  a  deep  green  are  rare ; 
blue  still  more  uncommon. 

Beside  the  essential  parts  of  a  seed  already  describ- 
ed, there  are  certain  accessory  parts,  which,  whilst 
they  add  to  the  beauty  of  the  seeds,  serve  important 
purposes  in  their  migration  :  such,  for  example,  are 
the  feathery  crowns,  or  aigrettes,  which  serve  as 
wings  to  waft  them  to  a  distance,  as  we  see  in  the 
Dandelion*  Lettuce,  and  Thistle.  Who,  walking 
the  fields,  has  not  observed, 

Wide  o'er  the  tbhtly  lawn,  as  swells  the  breeze, 
A  whit'ning  shower  of  vegetable  down 
Amu6ive  float  ?      Thomson. 

If  seeds  are  diversified  in  shape  and  colour,  they 
vary  as  remarkably  in  their  size.    One  thousand  and 

*  Called  by  the  country  people  "clock" 


THE    BOTANIST.  31 

twelve  seeds  of  the  tobacco  plant  weigh  but  a  sin- 
gle grain,  while  a  single  cocoa-nut  weighs  several 
pounds.  The  Ferns  differ  from  other  plants  in  having 
their  seeds  in  the  leaves.  They  are  very  small,  and 
when  inclosed  in  the  seed  vessel,  they  all  together 
form  a  round  ball  with  a  notched  band  or  rim  of  a 
beautiful  structure.  They  have  some  resemblance 
to  the  fingers  shut  up,  or  clenched  so  as  to  form  the 
fist ;  and  when  the  seeds  are  quite  ripe  and  dry, 
they  become  very  elastic  ;  in  which  state  the  seed 
vessel  bursts  open,  not  unlike  the  suddenly  throw- 
ing open  of  the  fingers,  in  changing  their  position 
from  the  clenched  fist  to  that  of  the  open  palm. 
This  sudden  action  throws  the  seed  to  a  considera- 
ble distance  ;  and  then  we  see  the  two  hemispheres* 
which  composed  the  ball,  in  the  situation  of  two 
empty  cups.  This  is  well  expressed  by  an  engrave 
ing  in  Swammerdairi* s  book  of  Nature. 


THE   BOTANIST. 

N°.  III. 

Natural  things  which  are  common,  are  disre- 
gaided  because  they  are  common;  while  rare  and 
monstrous  productions  are  gazed  at  with  idle  curios- 
ity and  stupid  admiration.  What  is  more  common 
than  seed  or  grain  ?  Yet  how  few  give  themselves 
the  exertion  of  inquiring;  what  a  seed  really  is  1    If  a 


52  THE   BOTANIST. 

seed,  or  grain  answer  the  whole  purpose  for  which  the 
farmer  supposes  it  was  created,  that  of  fattening  his 
cattle,  and  feeding  his  family,  he  neither  searches 
into  its  curious  structure,  nor  inquires  into  its  phys- 
iology. Nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at.  But  that 
the  Lawyer,  the  Physician,  and  the  Minister  of  re- 
ligion should  go  on  through  life  as  most  of  them  do, 
without  once  stopping  to  inquire  into  the  laws  by 
which  the  acorn  becomes  an  oak,  is  to  the  Botanist 
surprizing  !  There  are  few  little  things  in  nature 
more  worthy  of  attention  than  a  seed.  It  is  a  system, 
or  complete  whole,  wrought  up  into  a  narrow  com- 
pass, retaining  a  living  principle.  By  system  we 
mean  a  combination  of  many  things  reduced  to  reg- 
ular dependence  and  co-operation.  If  we  contem- 
plate closely  the  vegetative  life  and  growth  in  a 
seed,  our  admiration  will  increase  at  every  view,  so 
that  our  baffled  reason  will  be  compelled  to  seek  a 
solution  of  its  difficulties  in  a  Power  anterior  to 
Water — Air — Fire — or  Light.  Some  of  the  wise 
antients  were  so  impressed  with  the  philosophy  of 
the  egg,  or  seed,  that  they  taught  that  the  mundane 
system  itself  sprung  from  an  tgg,  hatched  by  JVox. 

It  is  only  organized  bodies  that  are  capable  of 
growth.  Every  organized  body  grows  ;  and  beside 
them  none.  There  are  accretions  among  minerals; 
and  concretions  and  crystallizations  without  end ; 
but  these  do  not  rise  up  to  our  idea  of  growth,, 
which  implies  matter  organized  into  vessels,  con- 
taining a  moveable  succus,  or  juice,  operated  upon 


THE    BOTANIST.  35 

by  a  very  gentle  heat ;  whereas  the  changes  wrought 
in  the  mineral  kingdom,  are  commonly  by  a  very 
violent  one.     If  we  knew  how  a  single  fibre  grew, 
we  could  tell  how  the  whole  plant  or  animal  grows ; 
for  the  bodies  of  both  of  them  are  only  assemblages 
of  fibres  differently  formed  and  combined.     Growth 
always  operates  by  nutrition ;  and  nutrition  incor- 
porates into  the  fibre,  external  matter,  or  matter  ta- 
ken in,  ab  extra,  and  this  process  always  requires 
heat.     Now  all  bodies  in  nature  are  imbued,  sur- 
rounded, and  penetrated,  in  every  way  by  fire,  or 
rather  caloric,  which  is  a  better  and  and  more  expres- 
sive term  for  that  all  powerful  agent  which  trans- 
forms solids  into  fluids,  and  fluids  into  vapour. 

Although  heat,  or  caloric,  which  is  the  fluid  mat- 
ter of  heat,  expands  the  egg  and  causes  it  to  grow- 
up  into  a  living  animal :    and  although  it  agitates 
and  gently  unfolds  the  plant,  causing  it  to  grow  from 
an  acorn  up  to  the  magnificent  oak,  yet  this  query 
arises  naturally  in  the  mind  of  the  young  student  of 
nature,  what  is  the  pabulum,  or  matter,  which  adds  to 
the  bulk,  and  increases,  to  a  certain  size,  the  vege- 
table and  the  animal  ?     For  it  is  evident  that  heat 
only  causes  an  absorption  of  a  fortign  matter.     Nu- 
trition, or  growth  implies  life  ;  but  in  some  vegeta- 
bles, this  life  is  so  low  in  the  scale  of  vitality  as  to  be 
almost  down  to  where  Nature  has  marked  her  degree 
of  o. 

That  an  animal  receives  its  pabulum  or  matter  of 
nourishment  and  increase  from  without,  is  known  to 
to  every  one  from  the  irresistible  calls  of  hunger,  and 


34-  THE    BOTANIST. 

the  destruction  that  follows  famine.  But  that  Plants 
were  nourished,  and  sustained  by  food,  in  nearly  the 
same  way,  has  not  been  so  generally  understood. 
The  animal  has  a  warm  receptacle,  or  stomach,  of 
about  98  degrees  of  heat,  with  a  due  quantity  of 
moisture  and  a  peculiar  compound  motion  ;  where- 
as the  plant  has  no  such  receptacle,  nor  any  other 
stomach  than  the  cold  earth,  which  is  about  53  degrees 
of  Fahrenheit.  The  possession  of  a  stomach  lays  the 
discriminating  line  between  the  animal  and  vegeta- 
ble kingdom.     All  other  distinctions  fail  us. 

Besides  air  and  water,  to  which  we  may  add  fire, 
animals  stand  in  need  of  aliment,  or  food  taken  by 
the  mouth,  digested  by  the  stomach,  forming  there 
a  milky  liquor,  called  chyle.  The  constituent  parts 
of  the  chyle  of  quadrupeds  and  birds,  as  well  as  most 
other  animals  are,  -water — sugar — mucilage — oil — 
carbon — phosphorus,  and  calcareous  earth.  The 
constituent  parts  of  the  sap-juice,  which  is  the  chyle 
of  vegetables, is,  in  like  manner,  water — sugar — mu- 
cilage— oil — carbon — phosphorus,  and  calcareous 
earth.*  Now  sap-juice,  or  the  chyle  of  vegetables, 
is  absorbed  from  the  earth,  by  the  roots,  which  have 
a  peculiar  structure,  adapting  them  to  that  opera- 
tion ;  and  from  this  juice,  farther  elaborated,  re- 
fined and  exalted,  is  formed  the  various  fluids  in  the 
stem,  leaf,  flower,  fruit  and  seed  Some  plants  can 
extract,  or  compose  these  nutritive  substances  from 

*  Calcareous  earths  are  marie  of  all  sorts,  limestone,  chalk,  plaster  of 
Paris,  and  all  earths,  formed  from  the  bodies  of  animals,  especially  the 

shells  of  fish.     Fordycr, 


THE    BOTANIST.  35 

Water,  and  apparently  from  the  air  alone.  We  how- 
ever find  by  repeated  experiments,  that  there  are  cer- 
tain substances,  which  contribute  more  to  the  pro- 
duction of  this  vegetable  chyle  than  others.  Let  us 
then  inquire  what  these  materials  are,  that  afford  the 
food  of  plants  ?  The  subject  is  not  merely  cu- 
rious, but  of  high  importance  to  our  country  ;  for 
if  we  can  ascertain  the  appropriate  aliment  or  food 
of  any  particular  family  of  our  most  useful  vegeta- 
bles, we  shall  be  able  to  increase  their  size  with  as 
much  certainty  as  a  farmer  fattens  his  cattle  by  giv- 
ing them  corn. 

It  is  known  from  experiment,*  that  a  plant  will 
grow  in  sand  alone  moistened  with  water,  purified 
by  distillation  from  all  earthy  particles,  and  in  the 
purest  air. 

But  a  plant  will  grow  better  in  a  mixture  of  sand 
and  clay,  in  which  the  tenacity  is  adapted  to  the 
pushing  power  of  its  roots,  than  in  sand  alone  ;  and 
it  will  grow  better  still,  if  a  proper  quantity  of  water 
be  applied.  But  with  both  these  advantages  it  will 
not  flourish  so  well  as  in  a  rich  soil. 

If  a  plant  be  put  in  a  proper  mixture  of  sand  and 
clay,  and  duly  supplied  with  water,  it  will  grow 
better  than  in  the  same  mixture,  exposed  to  the 
hazards  of  the  weather,  and  the  chances  of  being  too 
mcist  or  too  dry ;  but  it  will  grow  still  better  in  a 
rich  soil.  There  is,  therefore,  in  a  rich  soil,  some- 
thing independent  of  texture,  or  the  retention  of 
water,  which  contributes  to  the  flourishing- of  plants. 

"  See  Fordyce'j  Elements  of  Agriculture  and  Vegetation. 


3d  THE    BOTANIST. 

From  observing  the  fertility  after  the  ground  was 
divided  by  the  plough,  some  have  imagined  that  the 
earth  was  the  food  of  plants.  To  this  opinion  suc- 
ceeded another  equally  erroneous,  that  water  was 
their  aliment,  when  in  fact  it  is  only  the  vehicle  of 
their  nourishment. 

The  upper  stratum  of  earth,  or  garden  mould, 
contains  some  articles  that  are  soluble  in  water,  and 
some  that  are  not.  Those  which  are  insoluble  in 
water  arc,  acording  to  Fordyce,  sand,  clay,  calca- 
reous earth,  magnesia,  oxydes  of  alum,  earth  of  me- 
tals, particularly  of  iron.  These  cannot  enter  the  ves- 
sels of  the  roots  of  plants ;  but  they  may  contribute  to 
the  production  of  substances  which  are  soluble  in 
water,  and  that  may  enter  them. 

Substances  found  in  this  black  garden  mould, 
that  are  soluble  in  water,  are,  says  the  same  author, 
mucilage,  nitrous  ammoniac,  nitrous  selenites,  com- 
mon ammoniac,  and  fixed  ammoniac.  We  find  all 
these  salts  in  the  juice  of  vegetables;  a  proof  that 
they  pass  into  the  plant  along  with  the  water. 

From  numerous  well  conducted  experiments,  it 
appears  that  a  mucilage,  produced  by  the  decom- 
position of  vegetable  and  animal  recrements,  consti- 
tutes the  food,  or  aliment  of  plants.  This  mucilage 
is  formed  from  stable  manure  ;  from  rain  water  pu- 
trefied, from  dew,  as  well  as  from  dead  animals,  and 
vegetables.  But  mucilaginous  juices  are  of  two 
kinds ;  one,  when  dissolved  in  water,  forms  a  sort 
of  jelly,  and  is  an  immediate  aliment ;    the  other 


THE    BOTANIST.  37 

forms  a  gummy,  or  rather  saccharine  liquid,  and  must 
putrefy  before  it  can  become  a  proper  food  or  ma- 
nure.* 

To  reconcile  the  doctrine,  taught  by  some,  that 
salt  is  the  active  principle  in  manures,  it  should  be 
remembered  that  putrefaction  has  two  stages ;  that 
the  first  converts  animal  and  vegetable  substances 
into  a  mucilage  ;  and  the  second  converts  that  muci- 
Lge  into  one  or  more  species  of  salt.* 

As  mucilaginous  substances  were  known  to  invig- 
orate roots,  by  affording  them  good  nourishment,  it 
was  natural  for  agriculturalists,  not  enlightened  by 
chemistry,  to  infer  that  steeping  seeds  in  mucilagi- 
nous, or  oleaginous  liquors  would  increase  their  pow- 
ers of  vegetation ;  especially  if  a  portion  of  nitre, 
common  salt,  and  lime  were  added.  This  opin- 
ion prevailed  among  the  antients,  as  we  learn  from 
Pliny  ;  and  is  also  recommended  by  Lord  Bacon. f 
A  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  the  fructifying  liquors  still 
prevails  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  notwithstanding 
Duhamel  in  France,  and  Dr.  A.  Hunter  in  England, 
have  exposed  their  futility. 

Dr.  Hunter  assures  us,  that  he  sprouted  all  kinds 
of  grain  in  a  variety  of  "  steeps"  so  called  in  En- 
gland ;  and  always  found,  that  the  radicle  and  germ 
of  the  embryo  plant  never  appeared  so  healthy,  as 
when  sprouted  by  pure  water.  He  tells  us  that  he 
constantly  observed  that  steeps  containing  nitre,  sea- 

*  See  Count  Gyllenborg's,  and  also  Fordyce's  Elements  of  Agriculture, 
f  Sylra  SylvATum,  art.  «(frkratita  t>f  gurinir.ttior. . 


38  THE    BOTANIST. 

salt,  and  lime  rendered  the  radicle  and  genu  yellow 
and  sickly.  He  then  steeped  a  variety  of  seed  in 
broth,  as  coming  nearer  the  nature  of  the  mucilage 
beforementioned,  and,  at  the  same  time,  put  an  equal 
number  of  the  seeds  in  pure  water.  The  result  was, 
that  the  radicle  and  germ,  produced  by  the  broth, 
were  weaker,  and  less  healthy  than  those  sprouted 
by  simple  water.  Here  the  scientific  agriculturalists 
have  been  led  from  the  path  of  truth  and  nature,  by 
following  some  erroneous  notions  of  the  Physicians, 
who  conceive,  that  if  they  give  their  weak,  emaciat- 
ed, hectic  patients  milk,  broth,  or  jellies,  they  will 
pass  as  such  into  the  blood  vessels,  without  giving 
any  labour  or  trouble  to  the  debilitated  organs  of 
digestion  ;  not  considering  that  milk,  for  example, 
is  first  hardened  in  the  stomach,  by  the  coagulating 
property  of  its  internal  coat,  into  a  curd,  and  then 
gradually  digested,  and,  in  a  degree  animalized,  be- 
fore it  enters  the  blood  vessels ;  and  these  messes 
occasion  more  trouble  to  the  stomach  than  a  piece 
of  beef.  The  milk  which  nourishes  the  embryo 
plant,  is  as  far  distant  from  the  steeps  used  by  Dr. 
Hunter,  as  eggs  and  milk  are  from  the  animalized 
lymph  in  the  blood  vessels.  The  same  philosophi- 
cal Physician  proves  that  the  opinion  is  erroneous 
which  is  entertained  by  some  gardeners  and  farm- 
ers, that  small  thin  grain  may  be  so  impregnated  by 
steeps,  as  to  make  them  equal,  in  vegetative  force, 
to  the  largest.  He  found,  by  repeated  experiments, 
that  the  largest  and  plumpest  seeds,  from  the  same 


THE    BOTANIST.  39 

heap,  were  superior  in  goodness  to  the  small,  thin 
ones,  though  steeped  ever  so  carefully. 

If  what  we  have  said  of  the  office  of  the  seed-lobes, 
in  our  last  number,  be  just,  that  the  farina,  or  meal 
of  which  they  are  composed,  is  converted  into  milk  ; 
that  it  serves  to  nourish  the  infantile  plant  until  its 
roots  are  large  enough  to  imbibe  mucilaginous  food 
from  the  earth,  it  follows,  that  the  vegetative  pow- 
ers of  seed  will  be  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of 
their  mealy  substance.  If  so,  then  it  will  remain  an 
established  truth,  that  plump  seeds,  placed  at  a  just 
depth,  in  a  good  soil,  and  at  a  proper  season,  will 
never  disappoint  the  gardener. 

From  the  preceding  doctrine  it  also  follows,  that 
Has:  food  of  plants,  or  manures,  are  of  two  kinds  :  the 
one  adds  nourishment  to  the  soil ;  such  as  all  ani- 
mal, and  other  putrescible  substances,  from  which 
a  mucilage  is  formed  :  the  other  gives  no  nourish- 
ment to  the  soil ;  but  forces  it,  by  agitating  and 
preparing  the  nourishment  already  there.  Hence 
we  see  how  substances,  of  opposite  natures,  con- 
tribute to  the  growth  of  vegetables  ; — putrescent  an- 
imal substances  on  one  hand ;  and  lime,  marie,  and 
plaster  of  Paris  on  the  other. 


THE   BOTANIST. 
N°.  IV. 

Every  thing  generated  by  nature,  or  made  by 
art,  is  generated  or  made  out  of  something  else ; 
and  this  something  else  is  called  its  substance,  or 
matter.  But  there  can  be  no  change  of  one  thing 
into  another,  where  the  two  changing  beings  do  not 
participate  the  same  matter.  Hence  were  there  not 
a  congeniality  between  the  food  and  the  plant,  and 
the  food  and  the  animal,  these  two  organized  bodies 
could  not  be  nourished  ;  but  the  material  imbibed, 
would  operate  as  a  medicine,  instead  of  being  assim- 
ilated as  an  aliment. 

Whoever  attends  closely  to  the  operations  of  na- 
ture will  be  convinced,  that  every  recent  production, 
whether  vegetable  or  animal,  that  daily  occurs,  is  not 
absolutely  a  fresh  creation,  an  evocation,  or  calling 
of  something  out  of  nothing  ;  for  that  is  impossible. 
uEx  nihilo  nihil  jit."  What  then  is  it?  'Tis  a 
change,  or  mutation  of  something  which  before  ex- 
isted. Every  thing  around  us  is  in  motion.  No 
terrestrial  thing  is  stationary.  On  every  earthly 
thing  mutability  is  written  ;  and  substances  of  every 
kind,  either  immediately,  or  intermediately  pass  into 
one  another  ;  and  reciprocal  deaths,  dissolutions  and 
digestions  support,  by  turns,  all  substances  out  of 
each  other.* 

*  See  Aristotle'6  Phys.  and  Harris's  Philos.  Arrangments. 


THE   BOTANIST.  41 

We  have  said  that  every  living  thing,  or  organ- 
ized being  derives  its  origin  from  an  egg,  or  seed  : 
and  this  doctrine  may  be  extended  beyond  the  ob- 
jects of  sight.     When  the    Supreme    Creator, 
says  the  eloquent  Count  Buffon,  formed  the  first  in- 
dividuals of  each  species  of  vegetables  and  animals, 
he  gave  a  certain  degree  of  animation  to  what  has 
been  called  "  the  dust  of  the  earth;"  by  infusing  in- 
to it  a  greater,  or  smaller  quantity  of  living  organic 
particles.,  or    seeds,     which    infinitessimally  small 
seeds,  or  particles  are  indestructible,  and  common 
to  every  organized  being.    These  particles,  or  origi- 
jial  seeds,  pass  from  body  to  body,  and  are  equally 
the  cause  of  life,  nutrition  and  growth.     When  an 
organized  body   dies,  the  organic  particles  survive ; 
for  death  has  no  power  over  them  ;  but  they  circu- 
late through  the  universe  ;  pass  into  other  beings, 
producing  life  and  nourishment.     A  growing  vege- 
table receives  these  invisible  seeds,  or  organic  par- 
ticles from  the  earth,  from  water,  and  from  the  air ; 
and  their  reception  perfects  the  plant.     A  quadru- 
ped receives  the  plant  into  its  stomach  for  food  ; 
when  its  digestive  powers  destroy  its  vegetative  life, 
should  any  be  remaining ;  and  then  the  digesting 
apparatus  animalizes  the  vegetable,  and  gradually 
converts  it  into  the  nature,    and   substance  of  the 
creature.     And  when  this  animal  dies,  his  constitu- 
ent particles  fly  off  in  vapour :  these  are  absorbed 
by  the  growing  plant   with   avidity,  they  being  its 
appropriate  food  ;  and  this  absorption  of  putrid  va- 
pour causes  them  to  grow,  and  to  flourish ;  and  thus 


42  THE   BOTANIST. 

do  animals  and  vegetables  mutually  nourish  and 
support  each  other ;  so  that  what  was  yesterday 
grass,  is  to  day  part  of  a  sheep,  and  tomorrow  be- 
comes part  of  a  man.* 

From  the  foregoing  doctrine  may  be  deduced  the 
true  theory  of  the  action  of  manures  ;  or  the  susten- 
tation  of  a  plant  by  its  appropriate  food.  This  is  the 
corner-stone  in  the  foundation  of  that  Temple  of 
Ceres,  which  we  hope  to  see  reared  in  A  m  e  r  i c  a.  It 
will  moreover  illustrate  that  doctrine  which  teaches, 
that  in  this  world  which  we  inhabit,  there  is  an  uni- 
versal change,  or  mutation  of  all  things  into  all ;  that 
nothing  is  lost,  but  the  sum  total  of  matter  in  the 
Universe  remains  perfectly  the  same  ;  and  that  which 
some  consider  as  fresh  creations,  or  calling  of  some- 
thing out  of  nothing,  is  only  a  change  or  mutation 
of  something  which  before  existed. 

From  the  experiments  recorded  in  our  third  num- 
ber, we  learn,  that  there  is  something  in  a  rich  soil 
beside  water,  which  contributes  to  the  growth  of  a 
plant ;  and  it  appears  that  there  is  a  mucilage  pro- 
duced by  the  decomposition  of  vegetable  and  ani- 
mal recrements  which  affords  the  matter,  pabulum, 
or  provender  for  the  support  of  plants.  If  it  be  in- 
quired farther, — of  what  is  this  mucilage  composed  ? 
We  answer,  that  its  base  is  a  gluten  resembling  the 
coagulable  lymph  in  our  own  blood  vessels.  The 
oxygenous  principle  concerned  in  germination  will 
be  spoken  of  hereafter. 

*  See  Locke  on  Identity  and  Diversity. 


THE  BOTANIST.  43 

The  growth  of  organized  bodies  is  a  mysterious 
process.  Philosophers  who  believe  with  Lucretius 
and  Bujfon,  in  the  pre-existence  of  germs,  or  seeds, 
organic  particles,  or  molecule,  denominate  them 
which  you  will,  have  endeavoured  to  sooth  the  im- 
agination by  an  hypothesis.  They  have  supposed 
that  these  very  subtle  germs,  or  seeds  of  things,  were 
merely  susceptible  of  life  by  the  application  of  a  due 
degree  of  heat ;  and  that  they  were,  at  the  creation 
of  the  world,  dispersed  universally  into  all  parts  of 
this  terraqueous  globe,  that  are  accessible  to  air,  and 
to  light ;  so  that  they  are  in  the  waters,  as  well  as  in 
the  earth.     Pope  refers  to  this  theory  when  he  says, 

"See  through  this  a/V,  this  ocean,  and  this  earthy 
All  matter  quick,  and  bursting  into  birth  ! 
Vast  chain  of  beings !  which  from  Goo  began— 
Beast,  bird,  fish,  in«ect,  which  no  eye  can  see, 
No  glass  can  reach;  from  infinite  to  thee, 
From  thee  to  nothing." — 

So  that  the  production  of  vegetables,  or  any  other 
organized  body  is  loftily  a  dissemination  of  what  be- 
fore existed.  They  grew,  or  unfolded  themselves 
only  when  they  fell  into  a  proper  matrix,  or  nidus, 
adapted  by  nature  to  their  support  and  growth. 
Thus  for  example,  if  the  eggs  of  certain  insects  fall 
on  my  writing  desk,  they  perish  ;  because  the  cloth 
which  covers  it,  is  not  the  proper  nidus,  or  matrix 
for  them  •,  but  if  they  are  deposited  on  a  piece  of 
cheese,  that  being  their  proper  matrix  they  soon 
become  animated.*     This   doctrine  opens   to  our 

•The  earth  duly  moistened  and  warmed,  is  the  proper  matrix  for  the 
Bean,  which  we  selected  in  No.  2,  as  an  example  of  all  other  seeds. 


44  THE    BOTANIST. 

view  an  host  of  comforting  facts,  that  banish  entire- 
ly the  dismal  one  of  equivocal  generation.  Now  we 
presume  that  while  a  vegetable  is  growing  and  flour- 
ishing, it  attracts  and  absorbs  these  original  seeds, 
or  moleculae,  fiom  the  earth,  and  from  the  water, 
and  from  the  air,  and  that  this  imbibition  is  con- 
tinued until  the  plant  attains  its  full  perfection  ;  and 
when  it  has  risen  to  its  acme,  it  rejects  their  further 
admission  into  all  its  parts  ;  and  therefore  instead  of 
being  distributed  as  heretofore  all  over  the  plant, 
they  now  tend  to  the  seed  vessels  only,  and  there 
form  and  perfect  the  seed,  which  increase  very  rap- 
idly ;  and  become  an  organic  particle  of  a  larger  size. 
Nearly  the  same  process  takes  place  in  animals. 

The  Roman  poet  Lucretius  sums  up  the  doctrine 
of  unceasing  mutation  thus, 

"  And  so  each  part  returns  when  bodies  die, 
What  came  from  earth  to  earth;  what  from  the  sky 
Dropt  down,  ascends  again,  and  mounts  on  high. 
For  Death  doth  not  destroy  ;  but  disunite 
The  seeds,  and  change  their  order,  and  their  site: 
Then  makes  neru  combinations,  whence  arise 
In  bodies  all  those  great  varieties 
Of  shape  and  colour." Creech's  Translation. 

To  scrutinize  how  an  organized  body  first  be- 
gan, is,  perhaps,  a  presumptuous  attempt ;  but  to  in- 
quire after  what  manner,  when  once  begun,  they 
have  been  continued,  is  a  work  more  suited  to  hu- 
man abilities,  and  is  gratifying  to  the  towering  fac- 
ulties of  reason,  and  honourable  to  religion  :  provid- 
ed we  substitute  for  the  disconsolate  doctrine  of 
blind  and  vague  chance*  conspicuous  in  Lucretius, 


THE    BOTANIST.  45 

that  of  an  intelligent,  and  sovereign  Creator  and  Le-, 
gidator  of  the  Universe,  the  Almighty  Director,  and 
merciful  Controller  of  that  never  ceasing  change, 
or  circulation,  through  which  every  thing  on  this 
evanescent  globe  is  doomed  to  pass. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  appears  that  a  seed, 
the  garden  bean,  for  example,  is  a  body  regularly 
organized,  and  arranged  into  a  system  of  vessels, 
glands  and  membranes  ;  and  that  it  is,  in  a  degree, 
alive ;  so  far  at  least,  as  to  be  in  a  state,  or  fitness  to 
be  acted  upon  by  certain  external  agents,  which 
agents  are,  fire,  air,  and  water,  or  to  speak  more 
correctly,  a  certain  vivifying  principle,  in  the  air, 
and  in  the  water,  called  oxygen,  which  is  the  very 
spirit  of  fire  and  flame.  This  oxygenous  principle 
lies  in  a  dormant  state  in  the  hen's  tgg,  until  it  is> 
awakened  by  fire,  or  caloric,  which  combining  with, 
it,  expands,  and  agitates  the  subtle  fluids,  and  the 
very  minute  vessels  of  the  egg,  so  that  the  wheel  of 
life  begins  to  oscillate ;  and  then  slowly  to  rotate ; 
and  at  length,  the  membranes  thicken  and  all  die 
parts  gradually  unfold  themselves  :  the  same  thing- 
takes  place  in  the  seed,  or  bean,  when  placed  in  the 
earth. 

But  we  cannot  advance  with  confidence  a  step  far- 
ther without  some  knowledge  of  the  properties  of  the 
wonderful  agent  fire;  which  alike  animates  and 
sustains  the  great  system  of  the  world,  and  the  di- 
minitive  system  in  a  seed.  What  shall  we  say  on 
this  subtile  subject  ?  Fire,  or  caloric,  by  a  gentle 
agitation,  enlivens  all  entire  organized  bodies,  and 


W  THE    BOTANIST. 

conducts  them  by  slow  degrees  to  their  destined 
perfection.  It  foments  the  embryo  plant  in  the  seed, 
and  the  miniature  branch  in  the  bud.  But  fire  il- 
ludes  inquiry  by  its  being  totally  invisible ;  for 
it  becomes  visible  only  when  it  borrows  a  body 
to  appear  in..  It  seems  secretly  to  unite  itself  to  an 
inflammable  something,  and  when  united  with  this 
inexplicable  principle,  it  enters  into  the  composition 
of  other  bodies.  But  a  mind  that  has  scarcely  ceas- 
ed vibrating  between  the  Priestlian  doctrine  of  phlo- 
giston, and  the  Lavoisierian  doctrine  of  oxygen,  feels 
the  utmost  diffidence  in  speaking  of  a  subject  in 
which  a  Bacon,*  a  Newton,  and  a  Boerhaave, 
a  Priestly,  and  a  Lavoisier,  have  all  guessed 
differently.  The  Botanist  ceases  to  wonder  that 
sensible  nations,  not  blessed  with  a  revelation  from 
heaven,  have  worshipped  the  sun,  or  a  flame  of  fire, 
as  the  Deity.  He  believes  that  this  vivifying  some- 
thing called  fire,  or  caloric^  fills  the  immense  space 
of  the  whole  universe,  pervades  all  bodies,  and  ac- 
tuates every  particle  of  matter ;  and  that  by  it  the 
phenomena  of  magnetism,  fire,  and  light  are  pro- 
duced ;  and  that  on  it  the  various,  and  astonishing 
phenomena  of  vegetation  and  animation  depend.  He 

*  Lord  Bacon  pronounced  beat  to  be  the  effect  of  an  intestine  motion, 
er  mutual  collision  of  the  particles  of  the  body  heated;  an  expansive  un- 
dulatory  motion  in  the  minute  particles  of  the  body,  by  which  they  tend 
with  some  rapidity  towards  the  circumference,  and,  at  the  same  time,  in- 
clined a  little  upwards. 

f  The  chemists  of  the  present  day  use  the  xvor&beat  to  express  the  sen~ 
sation,  and  have  adopted  the  word  calorie  t»  express  the  cause  of  the  sensation 
nf  heat. 


THE    BOTANIST.  4? 

moreover  believes  that  the  Sun  is  the  efficient  cause 
of  the  motions  of  this  fluid ;  and  that  the  various 
phenomena  of  our  system,  are  the  effects  of  these 
motions ;  but  the  modus  operandi  of  this  anima 
mundi  is,  like  its  great  Author,  past  finding  out ! 

Let  us  turn  from  this  difficult  subject  to  one  that 
is  more  within  the  management  of  human  abilities. 
It  appears  from  experiments  that  oxygen  gives  seeds 
their  first  determination  to  germinate;  just  as  the 
same  vivifying  principle  first  excites  the  movements 
of  life  in  a  bird's  egg.  Old  seeds,  that  would  not 
germinate,  even  in  the  most  favorable  soil  and  situ- 
ation, have  been  made  to  vegetate,  by  sprinkling 
the  earth,  in  which  they  were  planted,  with  water,  to 
which  was  added  some  oxygenated  muriatic  acid. 
Garden  cresses,  thus  treated,  germinated  in  six 
hours;  while  those,  treated  with  common  water, 
required  thirty -six  to  produce  the  same  effect.  Me- 
tallic oxydes,  or  calces  of  ores,  and  burnt  clay,  are 
good  manures,  because  they  abound  with  oxygen.* 

Whoever  takes  an  extensive  view  of  those  slow 
operations  that  are  going  forward  on  the  globe 
which  we  inhabit,  will  perceive  that  the  decay  of 
animals  increases  the  quantity  of  such  matter  as  is 
fitted  to  become  the  food  of  vegetables,  and  vice 
versa.  Calcareous  earth  is  produced  by  the  exuviae, 
recrements,  or  remains  of  animals,  especially  their 
shells,  which  shells,  left  at  the  bottom  of  the  ocean, 

*  On  this  subject,  consult  Mr.  Jacquin  of  Vienna,  Homboldt,  and  Dar- 
win. See  also  the  experiments  of  Sir  Francis  Ford,  in  Phitos.  Ma?.  I79S, 
and  Dr.  Barton's  Elements  of  Botany,  p,  278. 


4-8  THE    BOTANIST. 

until  they  have  become  wonderfully  accumulated, 
and  since  elevated  by  submarine  fires,  constitute,  at 
this  day,  those  immeasurable  strata  of  chalk,  marble, 
and  lime- stone,  which  are  found  here  and  there, 
throughout  the  earth.  The  strata  incumbent  on  these, 
consisting  of  coal,  iron,  clay,  and  marie,  are  princi- 
pally products  of  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Thus  are 
all  these  strata  of  materials  fabricated,  circulated,  and, 
in  the  course  of  countless  ages,  refabricated,  and  re- 
circulated by  the  procedure  of  vegetable  and  animal 
life,  and  decay.  Hence  may  we  not  conclude  with 
the  modern  Lucretius,*  that  vegetables  and  animals, 
during  their  growth,  increase  the  quantity  of  matter 
which  is  fit,  or  capable  of  being  fitted  for  the  food 
of  each  other  ;  while  they  elaborate  a  part  of  the  ma- 
terials of  which  they  consist,  from  the  simple  ele- 
ments of  hydrogen,  nitrogen,  carbon,  phosphorus, 
and  oxygen,  into  which  modern  chemistry  has  re- 
solved them  by  analysis  ? 

This  transmutation  of  animal  to  vegetative  nature; 
and  of  the  vegetable  again  to  animal,  may  be  ren- 
dered perhaps  more  intelligible  by  the  following  ex- 
ample from  Darwin.  In  animal  nutrition,  the  or- 
ganic matter  of  dead  animals  and  vegetables,  taken 
into  the  stomach  is  there  decomposed ;  and  the  most 
nutritive  parts  are  absorbed  by  the  lacteals,  and  so 

*  In  calling  Dartv'tn  the  modern  Lucretius,  we  wish  not  to  convey  an 
idea  derogatory  to  the  christian  character  of  the  Biitish  poet  and  philoso- 
pher. He  resembles  the  heathen  poet  in  genius,  and  not  in  his  atheit-tical 
notions.  Whether  they  resembled  each  other  in  a  licentious,  or  amatorial 
cast  of  mind,  is  left  for  others  to  determine. 


THE    BOTANIST.  49 

become  part  of  the  creature.  In  vegetable  nutrition, 
the  organic  mutter  of  dead  animals  and  vegetables 
suffers  likewise  decomposition,  and  undergoes  new 
combinations,  on,  or  beneath  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
while  the  more  nutritious  parts  are  absorbed  by  the 
roots  of  the  plant  in  contact  with  it. 

"  Hence  when  a  Monarch,  or — a  Mushroom  dies, 
A  while  eitinct  th'  organic  matter  lies; 
But, — as  a  few  short  hours,  or  years  revolve, 
Alchemic  powers  the  changing  mass  dissolve ; 
Born  to  new  life  unnumber'd  insects  pant- 
New  buds  surround  the  microscopic  plant.        Temple  of  Nature. 

These  general  principles  being  premised,  we  shall 
next  attempt  to  show  how  the  nutriment  of  vegeta- 
bles is  received  from  the  earth  by  the  roots  of  a 
plant. 


THE   BOTANIST. 

N°.  V. 

We  have  said  that  there  were  few  little  things  fa 
nature  more  truly  surprizing  than  a  seed  ;  that  each 
seed  was  a  system,  or  complete  whole,  wrought  up 
into  a  narrow  compass,  and  retaining  a  living  prin- 
ciple. 

The  antients,  from  the  scarcity  of  books,  and  some 

other  causes,  had  their  attention  less  divided  than 

the  moderns.     They  therefore  viewed  Nature  with 

keener  eyes,  and  more  concentrated  attention,  than 

7 


SO  THE    BOTANIST. 

those  who  have  lived  since  the  multiplication  of 
books  by  the  discovery  of  the  art  of  printing.  They 
were  of  opinion  that  every  thing,  even  the  great 
globe  itself,  sprang  from  an  Egg  ;  which  egg,  their 
poets  say,  was  hatched  by  Nox,  night,  or  obscurity; 
or  something  behind  a  dark  veil,  which  they  could 
not  see  through.  Darwin  alludes  to  this  doctrine, 
in  speaking  of  that  Spirit,  which  presided  over 
chaos, 


"  Who,  ere  the  morn  of  time. 


On  wings  outstretch'd,  o'er  Chaos  hung  suhlime  ; 
Warm'd  into  life  the  bursting  Egg  of  Nioht, 
And  gave  young  Nature  to  admiring  Light !" 

Some,  less  diffident  than  the  sagacious  antientsT 
imagine  that  they  have  penetrated  this  veil,  and  il- 
lumined the  obscurity  by  saying  that  jire  is  the  pri- 
mary cause  of  the  development  of  a  seed.  Be  it  so. 
But  what  do  we  mean  by  fire,  or  caloric  ?  Is  it  here 
any  thing  more  than  a  mere  word  denoting  the  last 
term  of  our  analytical  results  ?  We  moderns  have 
decomposed  substances,  which  under  the  antient 
doctrines  of  philosophy,  had  passed  for  elements, 
not  susceptible  of  decomposition.  We  have  been  able 
to  dissect  Light,  analyze  Air,  and  decompose 
Water,  and  have  discovered  substances  which  all 
previous  investigation  had  found  too  subtle  for  the 
detection  of  the  senses  ;  but  we  have  not  yet  detect- 
ed the  essence  of  fire.  When  therefore  we  attempt 
to  investigate  the  primary  motion  in  seeds,,  we 
should  not  stop  at  the  visible  effects ;  but  push  for- 
ward to  the  invisible  cause.     Thus  when  Ave  speak 


THE    BOTANIST.  51 

of  the  motive  powers  of  magnetism,  or  electricity, 
\vc  should  strive  to  raise  our  minds  beyond  these 
visible  effects  to  the  cause  of  them.  In  such  an  in- 
tense view  of  things,  we  must  exclude  the  word 
spontaneity  from  the  book  of  Nature.  We  must 
not  grant  it  even  to  fire,  which  constitutes  fluidity.* 

If  proud  science  be  humbled  by  speculations  of 
this  sort,  the  agriculturalist  may  indulge  his  pride  by 
considerations  of  another  kind  ;  by  reflecting  that  he 
is,  in  some  degree,  a  partaker  in  the  power  and  priv- 
ilege of  the  Crea  tor  ;  who  has  enabled  him  to  rear 
from  a  few  organized  particles,  a  field  of  vegetables, 
a  variegated  garden,  or  a  forest  of  trees.  Man  alone, 
says  the  chemist  Chaptal,  possesses  the  rare  advan- 
tage of  knowing  a  part  of  the  laws  of  nature  ;  of  pre- 
paring events ;  of  predicting  results  ;  of  producing 
effects  at  pleasure;  of  removing  whatever  is  nox- 
ious ;  of  appropriating  whatever  is  beneficial ;  and 
of  composing  substances,  which  nature  herself  nev- 
er forms  :  in  this  point  of  view,  himself  a  creator, 
he  appears  to  partake  with  the  Supreme  in  the  most 
eminent  of  his  prerogatives  ! 

From  this  digression  we  turn  again  into  the  path, 
whence  we  musingly  wandered ;  which  path  is  to  le  d 
us  to  a  full  view  of  that  Nemorale  Templum,  which 
christian  philosophy  consecrates  to  the  honour  of  the 
Parent  of  Universal  Nature  ! 

of  the  anatomy  of  a  vegetable. 
The  principal  vessels  of  plants  are  of  two  kinds, 
lubes  and  cells.      The    tubes  run  from  the  roots 

*  See  Harris's  Philos.  Arrangements. 


52  THE    BOTANIST. 

to  the  different  parts  of  the  plant  in  separate  bun- 
dles, communicating  with  each  other,  but  not  branch- 
ing and  joining,  or  anastomosing,  as  in  animals. 
These  tubes  contain  the  sap-juice,  or  chyle  of  the 
plant.  When  immersed  in  a  watery  fluid,  they  fill 
themselves  on  the  principle,  some  suppose,  of  capil- 
lary attraction  ;  but  as  this  principle  is  not  yet  clearly 
settled  among  philosophers,  we  are  inclined  to  believe 
with  Fordyce,  that  it  is  from  a  power  similar  to  the 
muscular  power  in  animals,  by  which  this  absorp- 
tion, and  all  other  motions  of  vegetables  are  perform- 
ed. These  tubes  terminate  in  cells,  which  cells  con- 
tain the  peculiar  juices  of  the  plant. 

In  the  root  of  a  plant  certain  cells  surround  the 
tubes ;  which  are  opened  only  at  the  extreme  point 
of  them  ;  and  fluids  cannot  be  absolved  any  where 
else.  The  tubes  are  not  simply  open  at  the  end  of 
these  radicle  fibres  ;  but  there  is  a  particular  struc- 
ture, or  configuration,  which  adapts  them  to  the  im- 
bibition of  fluids  ;  so  that  if  the  ends  of  all  the  fibres 
of  the  roots  of  any  vegetable  be  cut  off,  the  growth 
of  that  vegetable  is  stopped  until  a  fresh  configura- 
tion is  formed.  As  roots  can  only  absorb  nutriment 
from  the  very  points  of  their  fibres,  the  configura- 
tion, just  mentioned,  defends  the  absorbing  tubes 
from  a  superabundance  of  water.  The  roots  of  some 
plants  will  bear  without  injury  a  greater  quantity  of 
moisture  than  others.  Those  of  aquatic  plants  have 
a  peculiarly  firm  structure,  for  defending  them  from 
the  effects  of  long  maceration. 


THE    BOTANTST.  53 

Linnaeus  has  not  rejected  the  idea  of  certain 
philosophers,  who  defined  a  plant  to  be  an  inverted 
animal  He  considers  its  roots  as  its  lacteals  ;  the 
earth  as  its  stomach  ;  the  trunk  and  branches  the 
bones,  and  the  leaves  its  lungs.  There  is,  however, 
this  difference  between  them  ; — an  animal  is  an  or- 
ganized body,  or  a  kind  of  hydraulic  machine, 
nourished  by  roots,  or  syphons,  or  in  other  words  die 
lacteals  placed  within  him.  A  plant,  is  in  like  manner, 
an  organized  body,  or  kind  of  hydraulic  machine, 
nourished  by  means  of  roots,  made  up  of  lacteal  ves- 
sels, or  syphons,  placed  on  the  outside  of  it.  Moreo- 
ver, is  not  the  long  cylindrical  absorbent  vessel, 
which  runs  from  the  roots  of  trees  up  to  the  caudex  of 
each  bud,  and  which  enters  at  the  foot  stalk  of  each 
leaf  analogous  to  the  thoracic  duct  in  animals?* 

Every  part  of  a  plant  that  is  under  ground  is  not 
its  root.  Some  vegetables,  as  the  onion,  the  tulip, 
and  all  the  tribe  of  lilies,  terminate  in  a  large  bulb. 
But  this  bulb  is  not  the  root ;  but  the  hybernacula, 
or  winter  quarters  of  the  vegetable  ens.  It  is  a  sub- 
terraneous bud,  inclosing  the  embryo  plant,  and 
protecting  it  from  the  destructive  effects  of  frost. 
The  radicles,  or  stringy  appendages,  proceeding 
from  the  bulb,  as  in  the  onion  and  tulip,  are  in  fact 
the  roots  ;  because  they  alone  contain  those  absorb- 
ing tubes,  through  which  nutriment  is  imbibed  from 
the  earth.  The  Marquis  de  St.  Simon,  however, 
controverts  this  doctrine  ;  and  imputes  the  absorb- 

*  See  Bonnet's  Contempt,  de  la  Nature. 


J*  THE    BOTANIST. 

ing  power  to  the  middle  part  of  the  bulb.  The  ab- 
sorbents in  a  plant  differ  from  those  in  animals  in 
the  facility  with  which  they  carry  fluids  either  way. 
Invert  a  plant,  and  its  roots,  now  in  the  air,  will  pro- 
duce leaves ;  and  its  branches,  now  in  the  ground, 
will  shoot  forth  into  roots ;  or  rather  radicles,  or 
ligneous  absorbents. 

The  roots  of  plants  show  a  remarkable  instinct  in 
searching  for  food,  by  creeping  towards  collections 
of  water;  and  into  a  rich  soil.  The  roots  of  plants, 
says  Bishop  Wat son,  seem  to  turn  away,  with  a  kind  of 
abhorrence,  from  whatever  they  meet  with,  which  is 
hurtful  to  them  ;  and  to  desert  their  ordinary  direc- 
tion and  to  tend  with  a  kind  of  irresistible  impulse  to- 
wards collections  of  water,  placed  within  their  reach. 
Thus  the  willow  creeps  into  our  wells,  after  water ; 
and  has  been  known  to  form  a  mat,  or  netting 
across  them.  The  Lombanhj  poplars,  which  now 
ornament  most  of  the  cities,  and  many  of  the  villages 
in  America,  have  very  extensive  roots,  running 
horizontally  at  a  small  distance  from  the  surface  of 
the  ground.  They  injure  our  gardens,  and  damage 
our  pavements  in  the  streets,  in  search  of  water,  or 
of  air.  This  growing  evil,  will  perhaps  compel  us 
to  eradicate  these  handsome  trees  from  the  streets, 
which  they  at  present  adorn. 

In  summing  up  all  that  has  been  said,  it  appears, 
that  a  seed  is  the  sexual  offspring  of  a  plant,  con- 
taining not  only  the  rudiments  of  the  future  vegeta- 
ble, but  also  a  quantity  of  aliment  laid  up  within  its 
membranes  for   its  early  nourishment.     A  whitish 


THE    BOTANIST.  SB 

subject  of  a  delicate  nature  forms  the  substance  of 
the  seed.  Small  vessels,  which  proceed  from  the 
germ  are  in  every  part  of  this  substance,  dividing, 
and  subdividing  it  every  where.  After  the  seed  has 
lain  in  the  ground,  moistened  and  warmed  to  a  cer- 
tain degree,  it  gently  expands,  and  then  begins  to 
shoot  forth ;  the  radicle  downwards,  and  the  plu- 
mula  upwards.  The  warmth,  which  had  penetrated 
its  outward  folds,  operates  on  their  moisture,  and 
dissolves  the  mealy  substance  of  the  seed  lobe,  and 
mixes  with  it.  Of  this  mixture  is  formed  a  kind  of 
milk,  which  being  conveyed  to  the  infantile  plant  by 
a  concourse  of  vessels,  terminating  in  a  little  protu- 
berance or  papilla  furnishes  it  with  nourishment, 
adapted  to  its  tender  age,  and  extreme  delicacy. 

By  these  means  the  radicle,  or  incipient  root  un- 
folds itself,  and  increases  in  bulk  and  extent  every 
day.  In  a  short  time,  it  seems  to  become,  like  the 
chicken  in  the  egg,  sensible  of  too  close  confine- 
ment, and  it  makes  an  effort  to  come  forth.  The 
small  orifice,  which  may  be  observed  on  the  out- 
side of  the  bean,  and  every  other  seed,  facilitates  its 
egress.  Then  the  radicle  creeps  downwards  into  the 
earth,  and  soon  after  the  plumula  stretches  upwards 
to  taste  the  air,  while  the  seed  lobes,  emulating  leaves, 
serve  as  shields  to  defend  the  infant  plant  from  harm. 
As  the  plant  acquires  size  and  strength,  these  are 
no  longer  useful,  but  dropping  off,  perish ;  and 
from  this  time  forward  the  plant  depends  for  its 
coarser  nourishment  on  certain  fluids  in  the  earth ; 
and  on  more  subtle  and  refined  ones  from  the  at- 


J6  THE    BOTANIST. 

mosphere.  For  it  is  with  plants  as  with  ourselves, 
while  our  stomachs  are  digesting  coarser  ioori,  our 
lungs  are  digesting  air ;  so  that  while  plants  are  re- 
ceiving mucilage  from  the  earth,  their  leaves,  or 
lungs  inspire  the  oxygenous,  or  vital  principle  from 
the  atmosphere. 

From  this  view  given  of  the  seed,  and  its  econo- 
my, the  assertion  will  no  longer  appear  strange  that 
the  spacious  oak  once  existed  in  an  acorn.  Thus 
says  the  poetical  Darwin, 

The  pulpy  acorn,  e'er  it  swells,  contains 
The  oak's  vast  branches  in  its  milky  veins. 

And  again, 

Grain  within  grain,  successive  harvests  dwell, 
And  boundless  forests  slumber  in  a  shell. 


THE    BOTANIST. 

N°.  VI. 

We  left  the  infantile  plant  struggling  for  life,  and 
extending  its  roots,  which  contain  those  vessels  that 
answer  to  the  lacteals  in  animals,  in  order  to  imbibe 
nutriment  from  its  mother  earth  ;  while  the  plumu- 
Ja,  or  little  stem  and  leaf  were  aspiring  to  drink  the 
vital  air,  which  soon  changes  it  from  a  }  ellou  ish 
white  to  a  beautiful  green  colour.  That  leaves  do 
not  acquire  this  splendid  green  before  they  enjoy 
the  light  of  heaven,  is  known  to  every  one  who  has 
.noticed  plants  growing  in  dark  cellars,   or  covered 


THE    BOTANIST.  57 

ver  with  boards,  or  otherwise  secluded  from  the 
sun's  rays.*  We  shall  resume  this  subject  when 
we  speak  of  the  office  of  the  leaves  in  cleansing  a 
foul  atmosphere  from  putrid  exhalations.  We  must 
now  pursue 

THE  ANATOMY  OF  A  VEGETABLE  ;  BEING  THE 
EXAMINATION  OF  A  TRUNK  OF  A  TREE  FROM 
WITHOUT  INWARDS. 

In  cutting  the  trunk  of  a  tree  from  the  circumfer- 
ence to  the  centre,  the  instrument  passes  through 
seven  distinct  parts  in  the  following  order  : 

I.  The  Epidermis. 
II.  The  Cortex. 

III.  The  Liber. 

IV.  The  Alburnum. 

V.  The  Vascular  Series. 
VI.  The  Lignum. 
VII.  The  Medulla,  or  Pith. 

Under  which  of  these  heads  must  we  place  the 
Silver  grain,  or  those  bright  radii  which  pass  from 
the  centre  to  the  circumference  ?  Are  these  any 
thing  more  than  mechanical  braces  of  the  ligneous 
part  of  the  tree  ;  a  sort  of  dovetailing  to  preserve  the 
limb  from  breaking  into  concentric  circles,  on  suf- 

*  This  operation  called  bleaching,  or  etiolation,  renders  plants  less  acrid 
^nd  is  usually  performed  on  endive  and  cellery. 


m  THE    BOTANIST. 

faring  violent  flexures  in  high  winds  and  storms? 
Or  do  they  contain  the  air  vessels,  passing  from  the 
epidermis  to  the  centre  ? 

The  Epidermis  is  a  delicate,  but  firm,  transparent 
membrane,  covering  the  plant  every  where.  It  is 
impenetrable  to  water,  and,  like  the  cuticle  of  the 
human  body,  is  sooner  elevated  in  the  form  of  a  blis- 
ter, than  destroyed  by  any  corrosive  fluid.  The 
epidermis  of  vegetables  is,  as  in  the  human  scarf- 
skin,  a  single  membrane,  although  Duhamel  says 
he  counted  six  in  the  birch  tree,  and  our  country- 
man, Dr.  Barton,  distinguished  twice  that  number. 
Notwithstanding  this  respectable  authority,  we  ap- 
prehend, that  both  these  naturalists  were  deceived. 
We  admit,  as  a  well  established  opinion,  that  the 
epidermis,  or  cuticle  of  a  tree,  is  renewed  every 
year ;  and  that  where  we  discover  several  layers,, 
they  are  only  the  old  ones,  beneath  the  recent  one. 
Some  trees,  says  Darwin,  have  as  many  cuticles,  as 
they  are  years  old  ;  others  cast  them  more  easily,  as 
a  snake  casts  its  skin.  Hence  the  service  of  curry- 
ing or  scratching  trees.* 

The  use  of  the  epidermis  is  to  protect  the  ulti- 
mate ramifications  of  the  aerial  and  aqueous  vessels  ; 
those  minute  vessels,  by  which  they  are  enabled  to 

•  It  is  said,  if  you  continue  to  scratch  the  curvature  of  a  crooked  tree, 
it  will  in  time  become  straight.  It  resembles  in  this  respect  a  contracted 
leg  or  arm,  which  is  sometimes  restored  by  friction.  We  should  be  care- 
ful not  to  scratch  trees  that  exude  a  gum,  such  as  peach  trees.  An  insect 
■will  sometimes  injure  the  bark  of  the  peach  tree  near  the  surface  of  the 
wround,  which  occasions  an  exudation  of  gum,  and  soon  after  the  tree  be- 
comes sickly  and  at  length  dies. 


THE    BOTANIST,  59 

absorb    aeriform    fluidities,  which   are  needful   to 
the  life,  health,  and  beauty  of  the  plant. 

Oa  removing  the  Epidermis, 

The  Cortex,  or  hide  of  the  plant,  as  the  word  im- 
ports, appears.  This  is  the  part  known  to  every  one 
by  the  name  of  B.irk.  It  consists  of  vessels,  glands, 
and  Utricles,  which  are  little  bags,  or  cells,  inosculat- 
ed, contorted,  interwoven,  and  compacted,  in  such 
a  m  inner,  as  to  render  it  very  difficult  of  demon- 
stration. It  is  among  this  compounded  structure 
of  the  cortex,  or  bark,  that  the  work  of  digestion  is 
performed  ;  and  the  product  of  this  digestion  is  con- 
veyed through  the  whole  vegetable,  till  at  length  the 
leaf  and  the  flower,  the  first  the  lungs,  the  last  the 
face,  mouth,  and  entrails,  perfect  the  plant.  It  is  in 
the  bark  of  the  plant,  that  the  medicinal  virtues 
principally  reside.  In  this  reticular  substance  are 
found  the  oils,  resins,  gums,  balsams,  and  more  oc- 
cult virtues,  so  precious  to  the  healing  art.  The 
Peruvian  bark,  and  the  cinnamon  have  stamped  ce- 
lebrity on  this  part  of  a  vegetable. 

After  the  bark  is  stripped  off,  we  discover  the 
third  integument,  namely  the  liber  ;  which  consists 
of  laminae  or  plates,  bound  together  by  a  cellular 
matter,  which,  when  dissolved  by  maceration  in  wa- 
ter, detaches  these  plates  or  coatings  from  each 
other ;  when  they  resemble  the  leaves  of  the  books 
of  the  antients ;  whence  arose  the  name  of  liber. 
The  liber  is  softer  and  more  juicy,  than  the  cortex. 
It  grows  however  harder  and  harder,  until  it  assumes- 
the  quality  and  name  of  lignum  or  wood. 


60  THE    BOTANIST. 

Between  the  liber  and  lignum  is  interposed  a  pe- 
culiar substance  called  alburnum  by  Linnccus*  blea 
by  the  British,  arebier  by  the  French,  and  sap-wood 
by  the  American  yeomanry.  It  is  whiter  and  softer, 
than  either  the  cortex  or  liber.  It  is  not  at  all  times 
easy  to  distinguish  between  the  alburnum  and  the 
wood,  the  structure  being  similar.  Indeed  the  al- 
burnum appears  to  be  but  the  infantile  stage  of  the 
wood,  progressing  from  a  mucilaginous  to  the  adult 
state. 

We  have  said  that  the  liber  grows  harder  and 
harder  till  it  assumes  the  quality  and  name  of  lig- 
num ;  but  Du  Hcimel  says  that  in  certain  circum- 
stances the  wood  is  capable  of  producing  new  bark. 
A  cherry  tree  stripped  of  its  bark  exuded  from  the 
whole  surface  of  its  wood,  in  little  points,  a  gelati- 
nous matter,  which  gradually  extended  over  the 
whole,  and  became  a  new  bark  ;  under  which  a 
layer  of  new  wood  was  speedily  formed.  This  ge- 
latinous substance,  or  matter  of  organization  is  cal- 
led Cambium,  (from,  I  presume,  the  Italian  word 
cambio,  or  cambiere,  to  exchange,  or  commutate  ) 
which  Mirbel  supposes  to  produce  the  liber,  or 
young  bark ;  and  at  the  same  time,  by  a  peculiar 
arrangement  of  the  vascular  parts,  the  alburnum,  or 
new  wood.  Is  this  a  process  similar  to  the  exuda- 
tion of  that  part  of  our  blood  called  coagulable  lymph 
in  consequence  of  inflammation  in  the  human  body  ? 
When,  by  inflammation,  a  vascular  part  of  the  body 

*  "  Intermedia  substantia  libri  et  lijjni."    Linnx, 


THE    BOTANIST.  Gl 

is  roused  to  an  extraordinary  action,  then  millions  of 
vessels  are  called  into  existence,  and  glands  also, 
winch  secrete  the  coagulable  lymph,  or  matter  of 
organization,  which  is  one  link  in  the  chain  of  reno- 
vation. Or  is  it  like  the  exudation  that  repairs  the 
broken  bhell  of  the  snail  ?  Or  the  exudation  which 
forms  the  calhis  that  reunites  a  fractured  bone  '?* 

Between  the  alburnum  and  the  wood  lies  a  fifth 
ring,  or  circle  of  vessels  called  the  vascular  series. 
Its  structure  is  simple,  being  a  single  course  of 
greenish  vessels,  lodged  between  two  cellular  mem- 
brines.  It  terminates,  says  Dr.  Hunter,f  in  the 
nectaria  of  the  flower.  Some  botanists  consider  the 
vascular  series,  as  part  of  the  alburnum. 

The  sixth  part  in  order  is  the  lignum  or  wood, 
which  is  the  most  solid  part  of  the  trunk  ;  and  is  de- 
fined by  our  great  master  to  be  the  alburnum  and 
liber  of  the  preceding  year,  deprived  of  their  juice, 
hardened  and  firmly  agglutinated.  The  wood  is 
composed  of  concentric  rings.  The  centre  of  these 
circles  is  generally  observed  to  be  nearer  the  north, 
than  the  south  side  of  the  tree. 

On  examining  a  transverse  section  of  a  trunk,  or 
large  limb  of  a  tree,  an  oak  for  example,  we  can  gen- 
erally observe,  that  the  interior  rings  are  harder 
than  the  exterior.  It  is  a  prevalent  opinion,  that 
one  of  these  rin^s  is  added  everv  year,  and  that,  re- 
garding  the  number  of  circles,  we  can  ascertain 
the  age  of  the  tree.     Some  have  ventured  to  deny 

*  See  Smith's  Botany.  f  Philosoph.  Botanic. 


M  THE    BOTANIST. 

this  criterion,  although  they  knew,  that  Linnaeus 
himself  examined  very  aged  oaks  in  some  of  the  isl- 
ands of  the  Baltic  with  that  principle  for  his  guide. 
This  illustrious  secretary  of  nature  was  persuaded, 
that  he  could  point  out  by  the  ligneous  circles, 
the  severe  winters  of  1587,  1687,  and  1709,  as 
they  were  thinner  than  the  rest.  This  curious 
circumstance  merits  the  attention  of  our  rural  phi- 
losophers. Who  knows,  but  we  may  hence  form  a 
probable  conjecture  of  the  age  of  those  surprizing 
antiquities,  discovered  in  this  new  world  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ohio  and  Muskingum  ? 

Substantial  as  is  the  wood  or  ligneous  part  of  a 
tree,  it  is  nevertheless  so  far  from  being  an  essential 
part,  that  many  plants  are  without  it.  The  arunda- 
cious  plants,  as  the  reeds,  and  the  grasses,  and  indeed 
all  the  gramina,  are  naturally  hollow.  How  often 
do  we  see  trees,  so  internally  decayed,  as  to  be  kept 
alive  merely  by  a  vigorous  state  of  the  bark  ? 

The  seventh  and  last  part  is  the  medulla,  or  pith. 
This  is  a  spongy  or  vesicular  substance,  placed  in 
the  centre  of  the  wood,  and  is  according  to  Linnae- 
us, essential  to  the  life  of  the  vegetable.  In  the  new 
productions  of  trees  it  consists  of  a  number  of  oval, 
greenish  moist  bladders,  which  at  length  become 
empty,  dry,  and  spherical,  and  by  degrees  assume 
a  whitish  colour.  We  know  but  little  of  the  minute 
structure  of  the  pith.  It  resists  the  tincture  of  the 
most  subtle  colouring  fluids,  and  is  as  impenetra- 
ble to  water,  as  the  pith  of  a  goose-quill.  Ought  we 
t&  infer,  that  the  pith  is  destitute  of  vessels  ?  May  it 


THE   BOTANIST.  6£ 

not  be  like  the  most  subtle  parts  of  the  brain  of  an- 
imals, the  vessels  of  which  elude  the  sharpest  sight, 
by  reason  of  their  exility  ?  In  plants,  which  have 
hollow  stems,  the  tube  is  lined  with  pith. 

Linnaeus  attributes  great  importance  to  the  pith, 
and  asserts,  after  Bradley,  that  it  gives  birth  to  the 
buds.  Some  botanists  of  the  first  rank  believe,  that 
the  pith  is,  in  a  plant,  what  the  brain  and  spinal-mar- 
row are  in  the  inferior  order  of  animals.  The  pith, 
says  Darwin,  appears  to  be  the  first  or  most  essential 
rudiments  of  the  new  plant,  like  the  brain,  spinal- 
marrow,  and  medulla  oblongata,  which  is  the  first 
visible  part  of  the  figure  of  every  animal  foetus  from 
the  tadpole  to  mankind.  It  seems  however  that 
the  pith  is  not  essential,  or  absolutely  necessary  to 
vegetation,  as  we  often  observe  trees  to  live  and 
thrive  without  it.*  The  guaicum  or  lignum  vitse,  it 
is  said,  has  no  pith.  If  the  pith  be  the  brain  of  a 
tree,  may  it  not  be  with  some  trees  as  with  some 
animals,  in  which  the  brain  is  not  confined  to  the 
head,  but  spread  all  over  them,  as  in  the  earthworm 
and  polypus,  the  parts  of  which,  though  cut  in  piec- 
es, live  and  become  entire  animals  ?  Some  animals, 
like  some  vegetables,  are  more  vivacious  than 
others.  A  tortoise  will  live  and  crawl  several  days 
after  decapitation  ;  because  his  body  is  replete  with 
ganglions,  which  are  subordinate  brains,  having  an 
innate  energy  independent   in  some  measure  of  the 

*  If  Forsy'fj't  book,  hnd  not  come  forth  under  such  uncommonly  higk 
sanctioi,  we  in  America  should  li  ve  been  disposed  to  doubt  sorrreof  hlfc 
accounts  of  the  restoration  ol  decayed  trees. 


61  THE    BOTANIST. 

capital  portion  in  the  skull.  After  all,  the  office  of 
the  medulla  or  pith  in  vegetables  is  among  the  desid- 
erata in  the  science  of  botany.* 
fc  There  is  no  part  of  the  anatomy  of  a  vegetable  in- 
volved in  more  intricacy  and  uncertainty,  than  the 
Vascular  System.  Linrueus  speaks  of  three 
kinds  of  vessels, 

I.  The  Sap  vessehy 
II.  The  Vasa  propria,  or  proper  vessels,  and 

III.  The  Air  vessels  ; 
but  later  botanists  have  increased   their  number  to 
seven. 

The  Sap  vessels  convey  the  sap-juice  or  chyle  of 
the  vegetable.  They  rise  perpendicularly  and  pass 
principally  through  and  between  the  wood  and  the 
bark ;  and  though  imperceptible,  they  must  pervade 
other  parts  of  the  plant. 

The  Vasa  propria,  proper,  or  peculiar  vessels,  are 
so  called  because  they  contain  the  peculiar  or  specific 
secreted  fluids,  as  the  gum  in  the  peach  tree,  and  the 
resin  in  the  fir.  In  these  vessels  are  found  the  medic- 
inal qualities,  peculiar  to  a  plant.  The  utricles  are 
small  repositories,  which  contain  the  colouring  mat- 
ter of  the  plant.  In  them  the  nutritive  juice  of  the 
plant  is  lodged,  just  as  the  marrow  is  preserved  in 
bones,  whence  it  is  taken  both  in  animals  and  vege- 

*  Sonie  have  conjectured  that  the  pith  was  a  reservoir  of  moisture, 
against  a  dry  season,  like  the  depositesof  matrow  in  the  hones,  or  rather 
the  fat  in  our  bodies,  and  on  which  it  is  supposed  we  subsist  during  the 
emaciating  state  of  fevers. 


THE   BOTANIST.  65 

tables,  when  they  are  not  sufficiently  supplied  with 
chyliferous  nutriment.* 

The  air  vessels  are  called  trachea  from  their  re- 
semblance to  the  respiratory  organs  of  insects. 
They  are  found  in  the  wood  and  in  the  alburnum, 
but  not  in  the  bark.  In  order  to  detect  them,  you 
must  take  a  young  branch  of  a  vine,  and  clear  away 
the  bark,  and  then  break  it  by  drawing  the  two  ex- 
tremities in  opposite  directions,  when  the  air  vessels 
may  be  seen  in  the  form  of  small  corkscrews.  See 
engraved  representations  of  them  in  Grevfs  Anato- 
my of  Plants,  and  Day-will's  Phytologia. 

These  tracheae  or  air  vessels  carry  other  fluids  be- 
side air.  Darwin  says  they  are  absorbent  vessels  of 
the  adult  vegetable,  and  the  umbilical  ones  of  the 
embrvon  bud. 

As  to  the  absorbent,  the  excretory,  and  the  secre- 
tory vessels,  Ave  shall  speak  of  them  when  we  de- 
scribe the  leaves. 

To  the  foregoing  description  of  the  parts  of  a 
plant  should  be  added  that  which  contemplates  it  as 
a  whole.  Linnaus,  in  some  measure  helps  us  to 
that  view  of  it  when  he  says,  that  the  cortex  of  the 
flower  terminates  in  the  calyx  ;  the  liber  in  the 
petals  or  painted  leaves;  the  lignum  m  the  stam- 
ina; the  vascular  series  in  the  nectaria;  and 
the  pith  in  the  seeds. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  convey  a  clear  idea  of  these 
-different  parts  of  a  plant  j  we  would  therefore  refer 

*  See  Chaptat's  Chemistry,  Vol.  2. 

9 


66  THE    BOTANIST. 

the  reader  to  Grew's  admirable  engravings,  copied 
after  magnified  specimens  of  various  parts  of  a  vege- 
table, which,  though  executed  more  than  a  century 
ago,  have  not  since  been  surpassed. 

Dr.  Grew  and  Malpighi  began  their  anatomy 
of  plants  about  the  same  time,  unknown  to  each 
other-;  one  in  England,  the  other  in  Italy.  Much 
praise  is  due  to  the  Italian,  but  more  to  the  English- 
man. So  finished  are  his  descriptions,  that  he  has 
left  but  little  to  his  successors  but  admiration. 

The  best  solar  and  lucernal  microscopes  of  the 
present  day  serve  to  increase  our  admiration  of  the 
accuracy  and  industry  of  Dr.  Nehemiah  Grew  in 
the  anatomy  of  plants.  His  excellencies  are  nume- 
rous, and  his  mistakes  few.  Darwin  contends,  that 
what  Grew  and  Malpighi  called  bronchia,  or  air 
vessels,  are  really  absorbents ;  that  they  have  been 
erroneously  thought  air  vessels,  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  the  arteries  of  the  human  body,  were  supposed 
by  the  antients  to  convey  air,  till  the  great  Harvey, 
by  more  exact  experiments,  and  juster  reasoning 
evinced  that  they  were  blood  vessels. 

The  Botanist  is  not  entirely  satisfied  with  the  ac- 
count he  has  here  given  of  the  anatomy  of  a  vegeta- 
ble from  the  epidermis  to  the  centre.  Grew,  Hales, 
Du  Hamel,  Linnaeus  and  Darwin,  with  many  living 
naturalists  have  examined  the  minute  structure  of  a 
plant,  but  every  one  of  them  has  left  a  wide  field  for 
discoveries  to  his  successor.  We  in  America  have 
not  all  the  means  for  examining  these  things,  as  have 
our  elder  brethren  in  Europe.     It  is  but  lately  that 


THE    BOTANIST,.  67 

we  have  begun  to  construct  microscopes  ;  by  whose 
magical  powers  men  have  sometimes  called  things 
that  are  not  into  existence,  as  well  as  established 
the  existence  of  others  that  were  doubtful. 


THE   BOTANIST. 
N°.  VII. 


Several  Philosophers  distinguished  for  sagacity 
and  industry,  have  devoted  a  considerable  portion 
of  their  lives  to  the  examination  of  the  structure  of 
plants,  and  to  the  study  of  the  process  of  vegetation  ; 
yet  the  subtile  organization  of  vegetables  has  baf- 
fled their  sight,  though  armed  with  the  microscope  ; 
and  the  laws  of  vegetation  have  been  but  imperfect- 
ly explored.  Who  has  been  able  to  discriminate 
that  peculiar  organization  in  each  kind  of  plant  which 
gives  the  specific  medicinal  quality  to  each  ?  If  mat- 
ter, considered  as  mere  matter,  give  not  the  peculiar 
qualities  to  bodies,  they  must  result  from  the  differ- 
ent arrangement  of  the  same  matter  in  different  vege- 
tables. It  is  from  the  different  modification  of  veg- 
etable matter,  which  produces  those  various  and  op- 
posite qualities,  observable  in  two  plants  growing  in 
the  same  bed  of  a  garden,  and  breathing  the  same 
air,  and  which  produces  both  bread  and  poison  out 


68  THE    BOTANIST. 

of  the  same  soil.  It  is,  says  Dr.  Hunter,*  from  the 
different  elaboration  of  a  mass  of  innocent  earth,  that 
gives  life  and  vigour  to  the  bitter  aloes,  and  to  the 
sweet  sugar  cane,  to  the  cool  house-leek,  and  to  the 
fiery  mustard,  to  the  nourishing  grain  of  wheat  and 
corn,  to  the  deadly  night  shade,  and  the  still  more 
deadly  upas. 

It  is  incompatible  with  our  plan  to  exercise  much 
attention  in  describinsr  the  different  forms  and  struc- 
ture  of  the  trunks  or  stems  of  plants.  Seven  are 
enumerated  by  Linnaus. 

1  st.  The  Caulis,  or  stem  properly  so  called,  bear- 
ing the  leaves  and  the  flower. 

2d.  The  Culmus  or  straw,  which  species  of  stem 
is  generally  hollow,  as  in  grasses. 

3d.  The  Scapus,  or  stalk,  which  bears  the  fructi- 
fication only,  the  leaves  not  being  raised  above  the 
ground,  as  in  the  Dandelion. 

4th.  The  Pedunculus,  or  flower-stalk,  which  bears 
the  flower,  or  fructification  from  the  caulis.  It  is 
the  stalk  or  immediate  support  of  a  single  flower  or 
fruit. 

5.  The  Petiolus,  or  stalk  of  a  leaf.  It  fastens  the 
leaves,  but  not  the  fructification. 

6.  The  Frons,  a  vague  term,  generally  used  to 
signify  that  the  root,  stem,  leaf  and  fructification  are 
all  in  one,  as  in  Ferns. 

7.  The  Stipes,  which  is  the  stalk,  or  trunk  of  a 
frons,  and  is  applied  only  to  the  Palms,  Filices  and 
Fungi. 

Georgicat  Essay?: 


THE   BOTANIST.  G9 

Turning  from  these  things*  let  us  examine  some 
other  objects  of  more  importance,  viz. 


THE    BUDS. 

A  Btm  is  a  protuberance,  hard  body,  or  pointed 
button,  being  a  compendium,  or  epitome  of  its  pa- 
rent plant,  jutting  out  from  its  stem  or  branches.  A 
bud  is  composed  externally  of  scales,  which  are 
elongations  of  the  inner  bark.  It  is  commonly  cov- 
ered with  a  resinous  varnish,  to  protect  it  from  cold, 
insects,  and  moisture  ;  and  it  contains  the  rudiments 
of  the  leaves,  or  flower,  or  both,  which  are  to  be  ex- 
panded, or  exfoliated  the  following  year.  Buds  are 
called  by  Virgil  gemma.  As  many  plants  have 
no  buds  ;  and  some  that  have  are  divested  of  them 
when  removed  from  cold  to  warm  climates,  it  is  ev- 
ident that  the  buds  are  not  parts  essential  to  a  vege- 
table. They  are  however  so  very  common  in  these 
northern  states,  that  our  Flora  would  appear  awk- 
ward without  her  gems.  Of  the  arborescent  plants 
growing  among  us,  which  have  no  buds,  all  of  them 
have  been  brought  from  warm  climates,  as  the 
orange,  lemon,  acacias,  geraniums,  the  oleander  and 
guiacum. 

*  The  branch  of  an  oak  is  called  ramus ;  and  a  twig  of  that  branch  ramu- 
las  ;  but  what  is  the  discriminating  term  for  the  huge  trunk  of  any  tree 
which  rising  from  the  root  supports  them  all  ?  Can  it  be  arranged  prop- 
erly under  either  of  these  seven  heads  ? 


70  THE   BOTANIST. 

If  you  examine  a  twig  of  almost  any  of  our  trees 
at  this  season,*  especially  the  horse  chesnut,  you 
will  find  that  the  bud  is  rooted  in,  or  proturberates 
from  the  pith.  You  will  also  find,  that  wherever  a 
new  bud  is  generated  in  the  stem  or  twig,  or  in  the 
bosom  of  a  leaf,  there  a  membraneous  diaphragm 
divides  the  cavity.  This  division,  which  is  covered 
with  a  medullary,  or  pithy  substance,  distinguishes 
the  insertion  of  one  bud  from  another.  Beside  the 
scales  of  the  bark,  and  the  rudiments  of  the  leaves, 
we  discover  by  searching  deeper,  that  the  bud,  like 
the  seed,  contains  the  parent  plant  in  miniature. 

Seeds  are  vegetable  eggs ;  and  buds  are  foetal 
plants,  both  equally  adapted  to  continue  their  spe- 
cies forever.  A  bud  on  the  stem  or  twig  of  a  tree 
in  the  winter,  as  well  as  the  bulb  of  a  tulip,  is  the 
hybernacula,  or  winter  quarters  of  the  vegetable  ens, 
where  the  embryo  plant  sleeps  in  safety  during  the 
severity  of  winter,  secure  from  the  destructive  ef- 
fects of  frost,  moisture,  or  insects. 

There  are  three  kinds  of  buds ;  one  containing  a 
flower,  another  containing  only  leaves,  and  a  third 
containing  both.  A  just  discrimination  of  these 
three  kinds  of  buds  is  important  to  gardeners.  Leaf- 
buds  should  be  always  selected  for  inoculation,  al- 
though flower-buds  are  commonly  chosen  for  that 
purpose,  because  they  are  fuller,  thicker,  less  point- 
ed, and  resemble  plump  seed;  whereas  if  they  should 
be  transplanted  into  the  bark  of  a  tree,  they  are  more 
apt  to  disappoint  the  expectations  of  the  ingrafter  than 

*  December. 


THE    BOTANIST.  71 

if  he  used  the  leaf-buds.  An  accurate  knowledge 
of  these  things  will  tend  to  explode  the  vague  terms 
of  "  barren  buds,"  and  "  fertile  buds."  Another 
illustration  of  our  former  assertion,  that  anatomical 
investigation  is  the  only  certain,  and  rational  meth- 
od of  arriving  at  certainty  in  the  laws  of  vegetation. 

By  the  term  foliation,  botanists  mean  the  com- 
plication, or  folded  state  of  the  leaves,  while  con- 
cealed within  the  buds.  This  intricate  and  compli- 
cated structure,  was  first  evolved  and  displayed  by 
our  great  master  Linnaeus;  who  has  taught  us, 
that  the  leaves  in  buds  are  either, 

Involute;  that  is,  rolled  in,  when  their  lateral 
margins  are  rolled  spirally  inwards  on  both  sides. 

Re  volute,  rolled  back,  when  their  lateral  mar- 
gins are  rolled  spirally  backwards  on  both  sides. 

Obvolute,  rolled  against  each  other  ;  when  theiF 
respective  margins  alternately  embrace  the  straight 
margin  of  the  opposite  leaf. 

Convolute,  rolled  together ;  when  the  margin 
of  one  side  surrounds  the  other  margin  of  the  same 
leaf  in  the  manner  of  a  cawl  or  hood. 

Imbricate;  when  they  are  parallel,  with  a 
straight  surface,  and  lie  one  over  the  other. 

Eqjjitant,  riding;  when  the  sides  of  the  leaves 
lie  parallel,  and  approach  in  such  a  manner,  as  the 
outer  embrace  the  inner,  which  is  not  the  case  with 
the 

Conduplicate;  or  doubled  together,  that  is, 
when  the  sides  of  the  leaf  are  parallel,  and  approach 
each  other. 


?2  THE    BOTANIST. 

Plicate,  plaited;  when  their  complication  is  in 
plaits  lengthwise. 

Reclinate,  reclined;  when  the  leaves  are  re- 
flexed  downwards  towards  the  petiole. 

Circinal,  compassed;  or  in  rings,  when  the 
leaves  are  rolled  in  spirally  downwards.* 

Although  LoejUng^  natural  history  of  buds  has 
not  been  surpassed,  as  any  naturalist  will  be  con- 
vinced, if  he  peruses  his  paper,  entitled  **  Gemma 
Arborum"  in  the  Amanitates  Academica  ;  yet  Dar- 
win is  more  to  our  present  purpose,  which  is  to  mix 
the  utile  with  the  dulce. 

Dr.  Darwin,  in  his  "  philosophy  of  agriculture  and 
gardening,""  says,  "if  a  bud  be  torn  from  a  branch 
of  a  tree,  or  cut  out,  and  planted  in  the  earth,  with 
a  glass  cup  inverted  over  it,  to  prevent  the  exhala- 
tion from  being  at  first  greater  than  its  power  of  ab- 
sorption ;f  or  if  it  be  inserted  into  the  bark  of  another 
tree,  it  will  grow,  and  become  a  plant  in  every  re- 
spect like  its  parent.  This  evinces,  that  every  bud 
of  a  tree  is  an  individual  vegetable  being;  and  that 
a  tree  therefore  is  a  family  or  swarm  of  individual 
plants,  like  the  polypus,  with  its  young  growing  out 

*  See  chap.  xvi.  of  a  book  well  known  in  America,  entitled  "  An  Intro- 
duction to  Botany,  &c.  which  was  compiled  from  the  writings  of  Liunaus,  by 
an  English  Baronet,  and  published  by  Jamc  Lee,  nursery  man,  at  the 
Vineyard,  Hammersmith,"  near  London,  an  honest,  sensible,  hardworking, 
unlettered  North  Briton. 

f  In  this  situation  a  greater  heat  may  be  given  th«n,  than  in  hot  houses, 
without  increasing  their  quantity  of  perspiration,  which  ccses  as  soon  as 
the  air  in  the  glass  is  saturated  with  moisture.     Phytol.  Sea.  ik. 


THE    BOTANTST.  73 

of  its  sides,  or  like  the  branching  cells  of  the  coral 
insect." 

"  When  old  oaks  or  willows  lose  by  decay  almost 
all  their  solid  internal  wood,  it  frequently  happens, 
that  a  part  of  the  shell  of  the  trunk  or  stem  contin- 
ues to  flourish  with  a  few  healthy  branches.  Whence 
it  appears,  that  no  part  of  the  tree  is  alive,  but  the 
buds  and  the  bark,  and  the  root-fibres  ;  that  the  b^rk 
is  only  an  intertexture  of  the  caudexes  of  the  nu- 
merous buds,  as  they  pass  down  to  shoot  their  radi- 
cles into  the  earth  ;  and  that  the  solid  timber  of  a 
tree  ceases  to  be  alive,  and  is  then  only  of  service  to 
support  the  numerous  family  of  buds  in  the  air, 
above  the  herbaceous  vegetables  in  their  vicinity. " 

"  A  bud  of  a  tree  therefore,  like  a  vegetable  aris- 
ing from  a  seed,  consists  of  three  parts ;  the  plu- 
mula  or  leaf,  the  radicle  or  root-fibres,  and  the  part 
which  joins  these  two  together,  which  is  called  cau- 
dex  by  Linnaeus,  when  applied  to  entire  plants; 
and  may  therefore  be  termed  caudex  genuine,  when 
applied  to  buds. 

"  An  embryon-bud,  whether  it  be  a  leaf-bud,  or 
a  flower  bud,  is  the  viviparous  offspring  of  an 
adult  leaf-bud  ;  and  is  as  individual,  as  a  seed,  which 
is  its  oviparous  offspring. 

"  As  the  season  advances,  the  leaf-bud  puts  forth 
a  plumula,  like  a  seed,  which  stimulated  by  the  ox- 
ygen of  the  atmosphere,  rises  upwards  info  leaves, 
to  acquire  its  adapted  pabulum  ;  which  leaves  con- 
stitute its  lungs.  The  flower- bud  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances puts  forth  its  bractes  or  floral-leaves ; 
10 


7*  THE    BOTANIST. 

which  serve  the  office  of  lungs  to  the  pericarp  and 
and  calyx  ;  and  expands  it  petals,  which  again  serve 
the  office  of  the  lungs  to  the  anthers  and  stigmas  ; 
and  thus  like  the  leaf-bud,  it  becomes  an  adult  veg- 
etable being,  with  the  power  of  producing  seed."* 

Close  observers  of  nature  have  remarked,  that 
about  midsummer,  there  is  a  kind  of  pause  in  vege- 
tation, for  perhaps  a  fortnight ;  and  it  is  believed,  that 
leaf  buds  maybe  changed  into  flower-buds,  and  flow- 
er-buds into  leaf -buds.  The  probability  of  this  idea 
of  transmuting  flower-buds  and  leaf-buds  into  each 
other  is  confiimed,  says  the  ingenious  author  of  "the 
Botanic  Garden,"  by  the  curious  conversion  of  the 
parts  of  the  flowers  of  some  vegetable  monsters]  in- 
to green  leaves ;  if  they  be  too  well  nourished,  after 
they  are  so  far  advanced,  as  to  be  unchangeable  in- 
to leaf-buds.  Instances  of  this  luxuriance  are  some- 
times seen  in  the  chaffy  scales  of  the  calyx  of  the 
Everlasting,  in  the  Pink,  and  in  the  Rose-  Willow. 
The  artificial  method  of  converting  leaf-buds  into 
flower-buds  is  by  disturbing  the  natural  course  of 
vegetation  by  binding  some  of  the  most  vigorous 
stalks  or  roots  with  strong  wire.  J  The  success  of 
this  operation  depends  on  weakening,  or  strengthen- 
ing the  growth  of  the  last  year's  buds. 

*  Darwin's  Phytol. 

■f  Double,  or  very  luxuriant  flowers,  however  beautiful  in  the  eyes  of 
the  florist,  are  called  monsters  by  botanists. 

•^  See  Bradley  on  Gardenii'f,  vol  2,  p.  155.  Al«o,  Mr.  Fitzgerard's 
jnode  in  Philos.  Transact,  for  1761,  and  Count  Euffon'a  in  Act.  Paris.  An. 
1733. 


THE    BOTANIST.  75 

Instead  of  planting  buds  in  the  earth,  we  plant 
them  within  the  bark  of  another  tree ;  taking  care 
to  place  them  so,  that  the  pith  of  the  bud  comes  in 
close  contact  with  the  pith  of  the  branch,  in  which 
the  slit  is  made.  This  mode  of  propagation  is  call- 
ed inoculation* 

An  argument  among  others,  that  the  Chinese  had 
no  communication  with  either  Greeks  or  Romans, 
is  their  total  ignorance  of  the  art  of  ingrafting  or  in- 
oculation. That  the  antients  were  well  acquainted 
with  this  operation  appears  by  this  passage  from 
Virgil's  Georgics,  as  translated  by  Darwin. 

When  cruder  juices  swell  the  leafy  vein, 

Stint  the  young  germ,  the  tender  blossom  stain; 

On  each  lopp'd  shoot,  a  foster  scion  bind, 

Pith  prest  to  pith,  and  rind  applied  to  rind. 

So  shall  the  trunk,  with  loftier  crest  ascend, 

And  wide  in  air  robuster  arms  extend, 

Nur<e  the  new  buds,  admire  the  leaves  unknown, 

And  blushing  bend  with  fruitage  not  its  own. 

We  might  conclude  this  number  by  a  beautiful 
poetical  description  of  the  arts  of  producing  flower  - 
buds;  extracted  from  "  the  Botanic  Garden"  of  the 
fanciful  Darwin  ;  but  his  allusions  forbid  it.  While 
our  Flora  presents  a  bouquet  to  the  Massachusetts 
youth  of  both  sexes,  she  must  not  sprinkle  poison  on 
her  flowers. 

*  In  France  and  in  Switzerland  they  improve  the  fruit  of  a  tree  by  in- 
grafting it  with  a  scion  from  its  own  branches.  This  is  found  to  amelio- 
rate the  quality  of  the  fruit,  and  increase  the  size  of  it. 


THE   BOTANIST. 
N°.  VIII. 

How  dead  the  vegetable  kingdom  lies ! ^.Thomsons  Winter. 

In  the  past  numbers  we  treated  of  the  seed,  the 
root,  the  stem,  and  lastly  of  the  bud,  hybernacula> 
or  winter  quarters  of  the  vegetative  life.  Order  in- 
dicates that  we  describe  the  leaves  and  opening 
flowers  in  this;  but  alas!  a  frost,  "a  killing 
frost"  has  "  nipt  our  shoot"  and  check'd  us  in  the 
bud.  Our  congeniality,  or  uncongeniality  to  the 
seasons,  is  founded  in  the  nature  of  things,  let  John- 
son say  what  he  will  to  the  contrary.  When  the 
mercury  in  the  glass,  and  the  mercury  in  the  man, 
is  a  degree  or  two  below  o,  he  is  fitted  rather  to 
write  on  modern  patriotism,  and  public  generosity, 
than  on  the  vernal  bounties  of  exuberant  Na- 
ture. Anthology*  requires  the  etherial  warmth 
of  spring. 

We  attribute  to  the  hard,  inflexible,  horn-beam 
fibre  of  a  Johnson,  which  no  climate  could  alter,  nor 
season  soften,  this  erroneous  sentiment : — "  Those 
who  look  upon  the  mind  to  depend  on  the  seasons, 
and  suppose  the  intellect  subject  to  periodical  ebbs 
and  flows,  may  justly  be  derided  as  intoxicated  by 

*  i.  e.  A  treatise  on  Flowers. 


THE    BOTANIST.  77 

the  fumes  of  a  vain  imagination.  The  author  that 
thinks  himself  weather  bound,  will  find,  with  a  little 
help  from  hellebore,  that  he  is  only  idle  or  exhaust- 
ed. But  while  this  notion  has  possession  of  the 
head,  it  produces  the  inability  which  it  supposes." 
This  stern  philosopher  however  was  compelled,  in 
the  evening  of  his  life,  to  groan  out,  that  we  are  "the 
slaves  of  sunshine  and  of 'gloom  ."* 
When 

-  «  The  vernal  sun  awakes 


The  torpid  sap  detruded  to  the  root 
By  wintry  winds ;" 

or  in  better  words,  when  "  the  winter  is  past,  and  the 
ram  is  over  and  gone  /"  when  "flowers  appear  on 
the  earth,  and  the  singing  of  birds  is  come ;  when 
the  fig  tree  putteth  forth  her  green  figs,  and  the 
tender  grapes  give  a  good  smell,"  then  will  the  Bot- 
anist  quit  his  conglaciated  state,  and,  congenial  to 
the  cheerful  season,  once  more  attempt  to  delineate 
the  beauties  of  earth's  renovated  carpet ; — unless  the 
cold  hind  of  death,  or  the  still  colder  hand  of  a  goth- 
ic  spirit  should  paralyze  his  forever  !f 

Lest  those  who  have  regarded  the  past  numbers 
of  the  Botanist  with  a  favourable  eye  should  be  dis- 
appointed, we  seize  this  opportunity  of  introducing 
them  to  the  acquaintance 

*  Verses  on  Winter. 

f  Circumventive  attempts,  about  this  time,  to  deprive  our  author  of  the  honour  and 
froftts  of  tzventy  years  indefatigable  labour  in  the  feld  of  Natural  History,  mag 
have  given  rise  to  these  gloomy  reflections.     Ed. 


78  THE   BOTANIST. 

OF    LINNjEUS. 

The  figure  which  this  learned  physician,  and  il- 
lustrious naturalist  made  while  living,  and  the  great 
reputation  of  his  works  now  he  is  dead,  will  justify 
us  in  devoting  the  rest  of  this  number  to  his  hon- 
our.* 

Charles  Von  Linne,  or  as  the  learned  through- 
out the  world  have  latinized  it,  Carol  us  Linnaeus, 
was  born  at  Smaland  i.i  Sweden,  in  the  year  1707. 
It  has  almost  always  happened  that  those  who  have 
occupied  some  of  the  highest  seats  in  the  temple  of 
fame,  have  been  obliged  to  climb  up  to  it  through 
the  rough,  dirty  and  difficult  road  of  poverty,  calum- 
ny and  opposition.  It  was  remarkably  so  with 
Linnaeus,  who  was  the  son  of  an  obscure  clergyman, 
of  an  inconsiderable  village  in  a  gloomy  region  of  the 
elobe.  His  father's  income  was  so  small,  and  his 
family  so  large  and  straightened  in  their  circumstanc- 
es, that  this  prince  of  naturalists  was  on  the  point  of 
being  bound  to  a  mechanic.  The  design  of  bind- 
ing Linnaeus  to  a  shoe-maker  was  over-ruled  by 
his  uncle,  and  he  was  sent  to  school,  when  he  was 
ten  years  of  age.  At  this  early  period,  his  chief 
amusement  was  gathering  plants  and  hunting  after 
insects. 

Almost  all  young  men,  when  just  stepping  on  the 
stage  of  busy  life,  press  forward  to  the  acquisition  of 

*  If  the  reader  would  glance  over  Dr.  Pulteney's  general  review  of  the 
life  and  writings  of  L'wnaus.  he  will  see  whence  we  have  taken  most  of  our 
facts;  and  will  perceive  that  we  have  sometimes  used  his  expressions. 


THE    BOTANIST.  79 

riches,  as  the  surest  road  to  power  and  reputation ; 
whilst  a  few,  a  very  few  consider  wealth  as  a  second- 
ary object,  and  pursue  with  ardour  fame  or  reputa- 
tion as  the  first.  Hence  there  have  not  been  many 
very  famous  literary  characters  who  have  not  com- 
menced their  career  in  poverty  ;  and  most  of  them. 
have  found  that  "  Slow  rises  worth  by  poverty  de- 
pressed." 

In  the  year  1728,  he  removed  toUpsal,  where  he 
obtained  the  patronage  of  several  eminent  men,  par- 
ticularly of  Olaus  Celsius,  at  that  time  Pro- 
fessor of  Divinity,  and  the  restorer  of  natural  histo- 
rv  in  Sweden.  Under  such  encouragement  he  made 
rapid  progress  in  his  studies,  and  in  the  esteem  of 
the  Professors.  We  have  this  striking  proof  of  his 
merits  and  attainments,  that  after  only  two  years  res- 
idence, he  was  thought  sufficiently  qualified  to  give 
lectures,  occasionally,  from  the  botanic  chair,  in 
the  room  of  Professor  Rudbeck. 

In  1731  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences,  having 
a  desire  to  improve  the  natural  history  of  Sweden, 
deputed  Linnaeus  to  make  the  tour  of  Lapland,  with 
the  sole  view  of  exploring  the  natural  history  of  the 
arctic  region,  to  which  his  reputation,  as  a  scholar 
and  a  naturalist,  and  his  tough  constitution,  equally 
recommended  him.  He  traversed  the  Lapland  de- 
sert, which  was  destitute  of  villages,  roads,  cultiva- 
tion, or  any  conveniences.  He  spent  about  five 
months  in  this  tour,  suffering  innumerable  hardships 
and  privations ;  and  that  too  for  a  very  small  sti- 
pend, scarcely  enough  to  buy  him  shoes,  which  must 


80  THE    BOTANIST. 

have  been  an  important  article  of  clothing ;  for 
poor  Linnaeus  travelled  ten  degrees  of  latitude  on 
foot.  Several  years  after  he  travelled  through  Hol- 
land, Brabant,  and  France,  in  the  same  manner, 
gathering  plants  on  the  way,  and  searching  for  min- 
erals. 

In  1733  this  indefatigable  naturalist  was  sent  by 
the  government  to  visit  the  mines  in  Sweden.  On 
his  return  to  Upsal,  he  gave  lectures  on  mineralogy 
in  the  university.  In  1735,  when  he  took  his  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Physic,  he  published  the  first 
sketch  of  his  Systema  Nature,  in  a  very  com- 
pendious way,  and  in  the  form  of  tables,  in  twelve 
pages  only.  By  this  it  appears,  that  he  had  at  a  ve- 
ry early  period,  before  he  was  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  laid  the  basis  of  that  magnificent  work,  which 
he  afterwards  raised,  and  which  will  ever  remain  a 
lasting  monument  of  his  genius  and  industry.  In 
the  same  year  he  retired  to  Fahlum,  a  town  in  Da- 
lecarlia,  where  he  gave  lectures  on  mineralogy  and 
the  docimastic  art ;  and  where  he  practised  physic. 
In  1736  he  passed  over  into  England,  carrying  let- 
ters of  recommendation  from  the  famous  Boer- 
haave,  who  was  at  that  time  Professor  of  the  The- 
ory  and  Practice  of  Physic  at  Leyden,  the  glory  of 
the  medical  world,  and  one  of  the  best  botanists  of 
the  age.  That  the  sagacious  Boeihaave  penetrated 
the  true  character  of  Linnaeus,  and  predicted  his  fu- 
ture fame  and  greatness  appears  by  his  letter  of  in- 
troduction to  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  in  which  he  says, 
"  Linnaeus,  qui  has  tibi  dabit  literas,  est  unice  dig- 


THE    BOTANIST.  81 

"  mis  te  vidcre,  unice  dignus  a  te  videri;  qui  vos 
"  videbit  simul,  videbit  hominum  par,  cui  simile 
"  vix  dabit  orbis."  Although  Boerhaavc  particular- 
ly recommended  him  to  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Royal  Society,  Sir  Hans  paid  him  but  lit- 
tle attention  ;  lor  Linnaeus  was  not  one  of  those  gay 
young  men  that  attract  much  personal  attention. 
He  was  nesrlisent  of  dress  and  diminutive  in  stature. 
The  patronage  of  so  illustrious  a  man  rendered 
Linnaeus  still  more  conspicuous  ;  Boerhaave  him' 
self  being  a  cultivator  of  natural  history  and  botany, 
the  merits  of  Linnaeus  could  hardly  escape  his 
perspicacity. 

Boerhaave's  friendship  for  Linnaeus  continued  to 
the  latest  period  of  his  existence.  When  Linnaeus 
visited  him  in  his  last  sickness,  and  but  a  short  time 
before  this  light  of  the  medical  world  was  extin- 
guished, Boerhaave  taking  an  affectionate  leave  of 
his  young  friend,  said,  "  I  have  lived  my  time  out, 
"and  my  days  are  at  an  end.  I  have  done  every 
'{ thing  that  was  in  my  power.  May  God  protect 
"  thee,  with  whom  this  duty  remains !  What  the 
"  world  required  of  me,  it  has  got;  but  from  thee, 
•■'  my  dear  Linnaeus,  it  expects  much  more  !" 

In  1737  Linnaeus  published  the  Genera  Planta- 
rum,  which  completely  unfolded  the  sexual  system, 
as  far  as  related  to  classical  and  generical  characters  ; 
and  in  the  same  year  exemplified  it  in  the  species  by 
the  Flora  Lappo?iica,  and  the  Hortus  Clijfortianus* 
At  the  same  time,  he  dedicated  to  Dillenius,  the 
Pritiea  Boto?iica,  in  which  he  explains  his  reasons 
11 


82  THE    BOTANIST. 

for  the  change  of  names,  and  for  the  establishment 
of  new  distinctions,  both  of  which,  he  well  knew,- 
would  be  considered  as  dangerous  innovations. 

In  1738  Linnaeus  really  imagined,  that  he  had 
fixed  down  for  the  last  time  in  the  practice  at  Stock- 
holm ;  for  being  now  married,  he  concluded  it  was 
time  to  settle  down  for  life,  and  give  over  gathering 
plants  in  the  arctic  circle,  and  searching  the  bowels 
of  the  earth  for  minerals.  He  however  met  with 
great  opposition  in  his  business.  He  was  too  learn- 
ed and  too  eminent  not  to  excite  all  that  envy  and 
jealousy  could  engender  and  inflict.  At  Stockholm 
his  enemies  oppressed  him  with  many  difficulties  ; 
but  the  abilities  and  persevering  spirit  of  Linnaeus 
surmounted  them  all,  so  that  he  came  at  length  in- 
to extensive  practice  as  a  physician.  But  his  vast 
and  ardent  mind  would  not  allow  him  to  confine  it 
to  such  drudgery  ;  especially  when  the  fruit  of  his 
labour  was  to  be  only  money.  Count  Tessen  was 
his  patron,  through  whose  influence  medals  were 
struck  in  his  honour.  He  enjoyed  also  a  stipend 
from  the  citizens  of  Stockholm  for  giving  lectures 
in  botany. 

In  1741  Linnaeus  was  appointed  joint  Professor 
of  Physic  with  Rosen.  These  two  colleagues  agreed 
to  divide  the  medical  department  between  them. 
Professor  Rosen  took  anatomy,  physiology,  patholo- 
gy, and  therapeutics  ;  whilst  Professor  Linnaeus  took 
natural  history,  botany,  materia  medica,  dietetics,  and 
the  diagnosis  morborum.  The  systematic  genius  of 
this  prince  of  naturalists  displayed  itself  in  his  mode 


THE   BOTANIST.  8$ 

of  teaching  medicine  ;  for  he  arranged  in  the  form 
of  a  table  all  the  diseases  that  afflict  mankind.  Sauv- 
age  in  France  followed  his  plan,  and  made  many  im- 
provements ;  and  the  late  Dr.  Cullen  carried  it  to  a 
high  degree  of  perfection.  According  to  this  plan, 
diseases  are  arranged,  in  imitation  of  botanists,  into 
classes,  orders,  genera,  and  species*  This  mode  of 
arranging  disorders  is  called  Nosology.  The  repu- 
tation of  the  Swedish  University  at  Upsal  rose  to  a 
height  before  unknown,  during  the  time  when  its 
medical  department  was  under  the  direction  of  Lin- 
naeus. But  that,  which  has  established  forever  the 
name  of  Linnaeus;  and  which  has  reflected  honour 
on  his  country,  is  the  System  a  Nature.  Noth- 
ing since  the  labours  of  Aristotle  can  be  compared 
to  it  for  depth  of  knowledge  and  extent  of  re- 
search. 

From  this  period  the  reputation  of  Linnaeus  bore 
some  proportion  to  his  merit ;  and  extended  itself 
to  distant  countries;  insomuch  that  there  was 
scarcely  a  learned  society  in  Europe,  but  was  eager 
to  elect  him  a  member ;  scarcely  a  crowned  head, 
but  sought  some  means  to  honour  him.  His  emol- 
ument kept  pace  with  his  fame  and  honours.  It  was 
no  longer  laudatur  et  alget*  His  practice  as  a  phy- 
sician became  lucrative ;  and  we  find  him  possessed 
of  his  country  house  and  gardens  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  capital.  Linnaeus  received  one  of  the  most  flat- 
tering testimonies  of  the  extent  and  magnitude  of 

•  Starving  OU  universal  praise  ;  or  living  in  splendid  wretchedness. 


8t  THE    BOTANIST. 

his  fame,  that  perhaps  was  ever  shown  to  any  litera- 
ry character,  the  state  of  the  nation  which  conferred 
it,  with  all  its  circumstances,  duly  considered. 
This  was  an  invitation  to  Madrid  from  the  King  of 
Spain,  there  to  preside  as  a  naturalist,  with  the  offer 
of  an  annual  pension  of  2000  pistoles,  letters  of  no- 
bility, and  the  perfect  free  exercise  of  his  religion. 
But,  after  the  most  perfect  acknowledgments  of  the 
singular  honour  done  him,  he  returned  for  answer, 
"  that  if  he  had  any  merits,  they  were  due  to  his 
own  country."" 

This  extraordinary  man  died  January  11th,  1778, 
in  the  71st  year  of  his  life,  leaving  behind  him  a  glo- 
rious reputation.  Uncommon  respect  was  shown 
to  his  memory.  At  the  commemoration  of  his  death, 
by  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences,  the  King  of 
Sweden  honoured  the  assembly  with  his  presence  ; 
nay  farther,  in  his  speech  from  the  throne  to  the 
Swedish  parliament,  that  philosophic  monarch  la- 
mented the  death  of  Linnaeus,  as  a  public  calamity. 
He  said,  "I  have  lost  a  man  whose  fame  was  as 
"  great  all  over  the  world,  as  the  honour  was  bright, 
"  which  his  country  derived  from  him  as  a  citizen. 
"  Long  Mall  Upsal  remember  the  celebrity  which  it 
"  acquired  by  the  name  of  Linnaeus  !" 

Linnaeus  had  a  good  constitution,  though  often 
grievously  afflicted  wth  the  head  ache,  and  in  the 
latter  part  of  his  life  with  the  gout.  This  great  man 
was  of  a  diminutive  stature,  his  head  laro-e,  and  its 
hinder  part  very  high.  His  look  wa.s  ardent,  pierc- 
ing, and  apt  to  daunt  the  beholder ;  and  his  temper 


THE    BOTANIST.  85 

quick  ;  nevertheless  his  conduct  towards  his  nu- 
merous opponents  shews  a  dignified  spirit  of  for- 
bearance. He  disavowed  controversy,  and  seldom 
replied  to  the  numerous  attacks  on  his  doctrine.  He 
however,  when  attacked  by  Siegesbeck,  and  some 
other  virulent  calumniators,  wrote  a  reply,  entitled 
Orbis  eruditi  judicium  de  Caroli  Linnai  scriptis  :  and 
with  it  gave  a  memoranda  of  his  life.  This  Sieges- 
beck  was  a  brother  professor.  He  laid  it  down  as 
a  firm  maxim,  that  every  system  must  finally  rest 
on  its  intrinsic  merit ;  and  he  willingly  committed 
his  own  to  the  judgment  of  posterity.* 

Diminutive  as  was  the  stature  of  Linnaeus,  his 
mind  was  of  gigantic  size.  He  was  possessed  of  a 
lively  imagination,  corrected  by  a  strong  judgment, 
and  guided  by  the  laws  of  system  ;  added  to  these 
a  most  retentive  memory,  an  unremitting  industry, 
and  the  greatest  perseverance  in  all  his  pursuits ;  as 
is  evident  from  that  continued  vigour  with  which  he 
prosecuted  the  design,  that  he  appears  to  have  form- 
ed so  early  in  life,  of  totally  reforming  and  fabricating 
anew  the  whole  science  of  natural  history  ;  and  this 
he  actually  performed,  and  gave  to  it  a  degree  of 
perfection  before  unknown.  He  had  moreover  the 
uncommon  felicity  of  living  to  see  his  own  structure 

*  The  Massachusetts  Botanist  is  far  from  being  disposed  to  censure 
any  cotemporary  writer:  but  he  cannot  refrain  from  remarking,  that 
while  some  American  writers  speak  in  respectful  and  proper  terms  of 
Martyn,  Milne,  Loefling,  and  other  retailers  of  botanical  knowledge,  our 
great  master  Linnxus  is  spoken  of  in  a  tone  of  disrespect.  Has  not  Linnx- 
ns  been  to  naturalists  what  Columbus  wa-j  to  Geographers  ? 


36  THE    BOTANIST. 

raised  above  all  others,  notwithstanding  every  dis- 
couragement its  author  at  first  laboured  under,  and 
the  opposition  it  afterwards  met  with.  Neither  has 
any  writer  more  cautiously  avoided  that  common 
error  of  building  his  own  fame  on  the  ruin  of  anoth- 
er man's.  He  every  where  acknowledges  the  seve- 
ral merits  of  each  author's  system  ;  and  no  man  ap- 
pears to  be  more  sensible  of  the  partial  defect  of  his 
own. 

Linnaeus  was  of  a  noble  mind  ;  and  his  mind  was 
made  better  by  struggling  with  adversity.  To  be 
poor,  and  to  be  at  the  same  time  struggling  on  with 
some  new  discover}',  or  precious  improvement,  is, 
in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  to  be  in  adversity  ; 
for  one  thus  circumstanced  never  fails  to  have  a  nu- 
merous host  against  him,  chiefly  composed  of  the 
jealous,  the  envious,  and  the  knavish.  But  has  ad- 
versity no  consolations  ?  Is  it  not  the  best  course  of 
discipline  a  wise  man  can  endure  ?  He  who  has  nev- 
er been  acquainted  with  adversity,  says  Seneca,  is 
ignorant  of  half  the  scenes  of  nature ;  for  prosperity 
very  much  obstructs  the  knowledge  of  ourselves. 
And  he  who  was  greater  than  Seneca,  I  mean  John- 
son, observes,  that,  that  fortitude,  which  has  to  en- 
counter no  danger ;  that  prudence,  which  has  sur- 
mounted no  difficulties ;  that  integrity,  which  has 
been  attacked  by  no  temptations,  can,  at  best,  be 
considered  as  gold  not  yet  brought  to  the  test ;  of 
which  therefore  trj£  true  value  cannot  be  assigned. 

When  Linnaeus  first  published  his  sexual  s}'stem 
of  botany,  he  experienced  the  same  treatment  which 


THE    BOTANIST.  87 

generally  falls  to  the  lot  of  those  who  have  enlight- 
ened the  world  by  the  rays  of  their  genius  and  learn- 
ing :  a  few  admired  and  extolled  him  ;  others  ridi- 
culed him,  while  some  laboured  to  prove  that  he  was 
destitute  of  common  sense  ;  and  that  he  wrote  about 
that  which  he  did  not  himself  understand.  That 
those  rivals  who  dwelt  in  the  same  city  should  view 
him  with  an  u  evil  eye,"  that  is,  an  eye  made  sore, 
by  reason  of  his  extraordinary  light,  which  gave  it 
pain,  and  which  they  therefore  sought  to  veil,  or  put 
out,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at ;  but  that  it  should 
give  pain  to  the  eye  of  Count  Buffon,  and  other  cel- 
ebrated men  in  France  is  indeed  pitiful.  In  Eng- 
land, and  in  some  other  parts  of  Europe  they  receiv- 
ed the  new  doctrine  with  all  that  caution  which  be . 
came  an  enlightened  age  and  people ;  and  Nature 
was  traced  experimentally  through  all  her  operations 
in  the  vegetable  economy  before  the  sexual  doctrine 
of  Linnaeus  was  acknowledged.  It  is  now  as  firmly 
established  as  any  law  in  nature. 

Linnaeus  not  only  silenced  all  gainsayers ;  but 
had  the  uncommon  good  fortune  of  living  to  see 
the  fruits  of  his  own  great  exertions.  He  lived  to 
see  Natural  History  raise  herself  in  his  native  courK- 
try  under  his  culture,  and  the  fostering  hand  of  the 
government  to  a  state  of  perfection  unknown  else- 
where. He  lived  to  see  it  diffused  thence  all  over 
the  civilized  world.  He  lived  to  see  the  sovereigns 
of  Europe  establishing  societies  for  cultivating  that 
science  to  which  he  had  so  long  devoted  his  head 
and  heart.  And  when  he  ceased  to  live,  the  philos*  • 


86  THE    BOTANIST. 

pher  saw  with  grateful  admiration  the  sovereign  of 
Sweden  pronouncing  the  eulogy  of  Linnaeus  from 
his  throne,  and  lamenting  his  death  as  a  public  ca- 
lamity ! 

Linnaeus  was  well  acquainted  with  the  art  of  re- 
commending science  by  elegance  of  language,  and 
embellishing  philosophy  with  polite  literature.  No 
man  of  the  age  had  a  more  happy  command  of  the 
Latin  tongue  than  Linnaeus;  and  no  man  ever  ap- 
plied it  more  successfully  to  his  purpose,  or  gave  to 
description  such  copiousness,  precision,  and  ele- 
gance. The  glaring  paint  of  Buffon  suffers  in  com- 
parison with  the  pleasing  but  solid  manner  of  Lin- 
naeus ;  for  this  prince  of  naturalists  possessed  the 
sound,  distinct,  and  comprehensive  knowledge  of 
Bacon,  with  all  the  beautiful  light  graces  and  em- 
bellishments of  Addison.  He  knew,  that  those  au- 
thors who  would  find  many  readers,  and  those  lec- 
turers who  would  secure  attentive  hearers,  must 
please,  whilst  they  instruct. 

Physiology  owes  much  toLinnseus.  But  Pathol- 
ogy, the  foundation  of  the  whole  medical  art,  and  of 
all  medical  theory,  has  been  more  improved  by  Lin- 
naeus in  his  Calvis  Medicines,  of  eight  pages  only, 
which  is  a  master  piece  in  its  way,  and  one  of  the 
greatest  treasures  in  medicine,  than  by  a  hundred 
authors  and  books  in  folio. 

The  Materia  Medica  was  in  a  confused  state,  and 
many  articles  were  imperfectly  known,  until  Linnae- 
us reformed  it.  He  was  the  first  who  said  that  all 
our  principal  medicines  are  poisons  ;  and  that  phy- 


THE    BOTANIST.  89 

sicians  ought  not  to  condemn  poisons,  but  to  use 
them,  as  surgeons  do  their  knives,  cautiously. 

Besides  medals  there  are  several  monuments  erect- 
ed to  the  honour  of  this  great  naturalist  in  he  gar- 
dens of  his  admirers  in  different  places  in  Europe. 
In  1778,  Dr.  Hope  laid  the  foundation  stone  of  a 
monument,  since  finished,  in  the  botanic  garden  at 
Edinburgh. 

The  Botanist  possessing  an  original  letter,  written 
by  the  son  of  this  great  man  to  the  celebrated  Dr. 
Fothergill,  giving  an  account  of  his  father's  death, 
conceives  that  its  insertion  here  will  be  generally 
pleasing  to  the  learned  part  of  his  readers,  and  partic- 
ularly to  every  American  naturalist. 

Carol  us  a  Linne,  Films  nobilisstmo  &?  experi- 
entissimo  Medicine  Es?  Botanices  Professor  Up- 
salit?,  Duo.  Doctor l  Fothergill,  S.  P.  D. 

LENTO  per  biennium  morbo  intabescens,  om- 
nibus tandem  prostratris  corporis  viribus,  vitas  sta- 
tione  septuagenarius  :  deeessit  pater  opt.  Archia- 
ter  &  Eques  de  stella polari  Carolus  a  Linne  d. 
FY.  Iduum  Jan.  MDCCLXXVI1I. 


Hunc  mihi  totique  domui  Ejus  luctuosum  casum, 
cxigente  id  non  sincera  minus  in  TE  observantia 
mea,  ac,  quae  beate  defunctum  TIBI  junxit,  amici- 
tias  ne 
putavi. 


tiae    necessitudine    obsequiossisime    significandum 


12 


90  THE    BOTANIST. 

Ut  vero,  qui  TE  coluit,  viri  post  funera  beati 
memoriae  faveas,  quaque  ille,  dum  in  vivis  erat, 
apud  TE  valuit,  gratiae  haeredem  constituas  Filium, 
quo  decet  verborum  honore  contendo,  Deum  im- 
mortalem  precaturus,  velit,  in  singulare  scientiarum. 
decus  &  emolumentum,  TIBI,  Vir  Nobilissime  ex- 
tentum  omnique  felicitatis  genere  refertum  vita?  spa- 
tium  concedere.  Dabam  Upsaliae  d.  X.  Cal.  Febr. 
MDCCLXXVIII. 

But  now  this  father,  and  this  son  lie  buried  togeth- 
er, under  a  marble  monument,  in  the  cathedral  of 
Stockholm,  bearing  this  inscription, 

OSSA 

CAROLI  a  LINNE 

EQUITIS      AURATI. 

MARITO    OPTIMO 

FILIO   UNICO 

CAROLO  a  LINNE 

PATRIS     SUCCiiSSORI 

ET 

SIBI 

SARA  ELIZABETA  MOR^EA. 

Dr.  Smith,  President  of  theLinnaean  Society  in 
London,  is  now  in  possession  of  the  Herbarium,  the1 
Library  and  the  manuscripts  of  Linnseus. 


THE   BOTANIST. 

N°.  IX. 


In  our  last  number  we  gave  a  biographical  sketch 
of  that  learned  physician,  and  prince  of  naturalists, 
Linnaeus.  This  great  man  was  not  more  distin- 
guished for  a  profound  knowledge  of  natural  history, 
than  remarkable  for  a  happy  mode  of  displaying  it. 
He  availed  himself,  says  one  of  his  biographers,  of 
the  advantages  of  an  uncommon  share  of  eloquence, 
and  an  animated  style  to  display  in  a  lively  and  con- 
vincing manner,  the  relation  which  this  study  has 
to  the  public  good ;  and  to  encourage  and  allure 
youth  into  its  pursuits,  by  opening  its  manifold 
sources  of  pleasure  to  their  view,  and  to  show  them 
how  greatly  this  agreeable  employment  would  add 
both  to  their  comfort  and  their  profit.  Nevertheless 
this  good  man  had  to  contend  all  his  life  with  secret 
and  open  enemies.  We  are  told  by  one  of  the  great- 
est men  of  our  age  and  country,  "  that  the  heroic 
characters  of  every  age  and  nation  have  generally 
lived  in  a  continual  struggle  with  a  great  portion  of 
mankind  ;  that  their  principal  merit  often  consists  in 
the  firmness,  perseverance,  and  fortitude  with  which 
they  bear  up  against  the  torrent  of  opposition  from 
their  fellow  mortals ;  that  the  tempest  of  obloquy 
rages  against  them  not  only  through  their  lives,  but 


92  THE    BOTANIST. 

of  en  redoubles  its  fury  for  centuries  after  their  earth- 
ly career  is  closed. 

Sure  fate  of  all ;  beneath  whose  rising  ray 
Each  star  of  meaner  merit  fades  away  ! 
Oppress'd  we  feel  the  beam  directly  beat; 
Those  suns  of  glory  please  not  till  they  set.     Pope. 

Nor  are  the  malignant  passions  of  mankind,  which 
are  always  arrayed  in  such  formidable  strength 
against  talents  and  virtue,  more  destitute  of  cunning 
th  in  of  violence.  They  have  plausible  pretexts, 
as  well  as  deadly  weapons.  The  best  of  men  are 
not  only  often  exposed  to  the  worst  of  imputations  ; 
but,  from  the  artifices  with  which  they  are  propaga- 
ted, to  be  robbed  of  that  greatest  of  all  earthly  bles- 
sings, the  good  opinion  of  the  virtuous  and  the 
wise."*  Linnasus  had  a  better  fate  than  most  great 
men  ;  for  he  silenced  his  opponents,  and  lived  down 
all  the  calumnies  of  his  enemies. 

We  shall  now  present  our  readers  with  a  concise 
History  of  Botany  from  the  earliest  ages,  until  this 
Science  came  finished  from  the  hands  of  our  great 
master  Linmeus. 

Borwy  in  the  Greek  language  means  an  herb, 
whence  is  derived  botany,  which  at  this  day  signi- 
fies the  science  relating  to  vegetables,  for  which  the 
antients  had  no  name  ;  as  it  was  not  in  their  days 
erected  into  a  regular  science. 

Although  botany,  as  a  science,  may  appear  to  some 
a  study  too  dull  for  an  exalted  and  refined  genius  ; 
yet  if  wre  cast  our  eyes  back  on  the  earlier  ages,  and 
trace  this  branch  of  knowledge  down  to  our  own 

*  Lectures  on  Rhetoric  and  Oratory,  by  the  Hon.  John  Quincy  Adams 


THE   BOTANIST.  9$ 

time$  we  shall  find  that  it  has  been  cultivated  by 
those  of  the  brightest  parts,  and  fostered  by  men  of 
great  distinction.  We  need  only  mention  him  who 
is  c  died  by  way  of  pre-eminence  "  the  wise  many 
Though  born  to  a  throne  and  destined  to  rule  over 
a  powerful  people,  yet  was  Solomon  so  captivated 
with  the  charms  of  botany,  that  he  is  said  in  the 
scriptures  to  have  known  plants  "from  the  cedar  of 
Lebanon  to  the  hyssop  that  springeth  out  of  the  wall''' 
and  we  find  in  his  "  book  of  wisdom,"  that  he  not 
only  "  knew  the  diversities  of  plants,  but  the  virtues 
of  their  roots." 

Sol  >M)tf  flourished  about  170  years  after  the 
siege  of  Troy,  or  in  the  year  of  the  world  2129,  and 
is  said  to  be  the  first  botanist  on  our  records  of  man- 
kind. But  on  examining  the  oldest  book  we  have, 
the  Bible,  we  find  an  account  of  a  plan  for  establish- 
ing a  Botanical  Garden  as  early  as  899  years  before 
Christ.  The  account  of  it  is  contained  in  less  than 
three  verses  in  the  first  book  of  Kings  ; — Audit  came 
to  pass,  after  these  things,  that  Naboth,  the  Jez- 
reelite,  hid  a  vineyard,  which  ivas  in  Jezreel,  hard 
by  the  palace  of  Ahab,  king  of  Samaria.  And 
Ahab  spake  unto  Naboth,  saying,  Give  me  thy 
vineyard  that  I  may  have  it  for  a  garden  of 
herbs,  because  it  is  near  to  my  house.  And  Na- 
both said  to  Ahab,  God  forbid  !  But  in  order  to 
force  it  from  him  they  set  two  sons  of  Belial  to  bear 
witness  against  him,  saying,  Thou  didst  blaspheme 
God  and  the  king  :  and  they  stoned  him  so  that  he 
died.    But  divine  justice,  which  forever  pursues  dis- 


94<  THE    BOTANIST. 

honourable  and  base  deeds,  avenged  the  cause  of 
persecuted  N  iboth ;  for  the  dogs  in  the  streets  lick- 
ed up  the  blood  of  the  two  principal  contrivers  of 
this  plot. 

We  find  no  mention  of  a  botanist,  from  the  glo- 
rious Solomon  down  to  the  venerable  father  of  med- 
icine, Hippocrates.  He  gives  us  the  names  and  vir- 
tues of  two  hundred  and  thirty  four  plants,  but  no 
description  by  which  we  can  ascertain  what  they 
were.  Cotemporary  with  the  father  of  physic,  liv- 
ed Cratevas,  who  he  calls  the  prince  of  botanists. 
A  considerable  space  after  him  appeared  Theophras- 
tus  ;  who  wrote  ten  books  on  plants,  of  which  nine 
have  reached  our  hands.  These  merit  the  highest 
encomiums. 

Theophrastus  was  a  disciple  of  Aristotle,  and 
flourished  in  the  third  century  :  he  may  justly  be  con- 
sidered as  the  father  of  botany.  He  treats  of  the 
vegetable  life ;  and  the  anatomy  and  construction  of 
plants,  and  of  their  origin  and  propagation.  He  di- 
vides vegetables  into  seven  classes,  which  division 
is  founded  on  the  generation  of  plants,  their  place  of 
growth,  their  size,  as  trees  and  shrubs,  their  use,  and 
their  lactescence,  which  last  circumstance  respects 
every  kind  of  liquor,  of  whatever  colour,  that  flows 
in  great  abundance  from  them  when  cut.  This 
golden  monument  of  botany  cannot  be  too  strongly 
recommended  to  the  curious. 

The  Romans  were  devoted  to  Victoria  ;  a  deity  so 
adored  by  that  rough  people,  that  they  paid  little  at- 
tention to  natural  history.  Pliny  says  that  they  were 


THE    BOTANIST.  95 

strangers  to  botany  till  Pompey  conquered  Mithri- 
dates,  the  most  philosophic  king  of  the  age.  His 
observations  on  the  medicinal  virtues  of  plants  fall- 
ing into  the  hands  of  Pompey,  were,  by  his  orders, 
translated  into  Latin.  Dioscorides,  though  by  birth 
a  Grecian,  lived  under  the  Roman  empire.  He  was 
the  next  botanist  of  note  after  Theophrastus.  It  is 
highly  probable,  that  several  botanists  lived  between 
the  time  of  Theophrastus  and  Dioscorides,  a  space 
of  nearly  4(0  years  ;  yet  if  we  except  Antonius  Mu- 
sa,  Euphorbius,  and  iEmilius  Macer,  who  was  a- 
soldier,  poet,  and  botanist,  and  the  first  who  clothed 
botany  in  poetry,  we  find  no  mention  of  any  one 
who  paid  attention  to  this  science.  Dioscorides  men- 
tions about  six  hundred  plants ;  four  hundred  and 
ten  of  which  he  described,  together  with  their  medi- 
cinal virtues  ;  about  five  hundred  of  them  are  men- 
tioned by  the  father  of  botany.  Dioscorides  arrang- 
ed plants,  from  their  uses  in  medicine  and  domestic 
economy,  into  four  classes,  viz.  aromatics,  aliment- 
ary vegetables,  medicinal,  and  vinous  ;  a  vague  and 
fallacious  distinction. 

Pliny,  in  his  immense  compilation,  called  the  his- 
tory of  the  world,  mentions  four  hundred  plants  more 
than  are  to  be  found  in  Dioscorides ;  and  yet  he 
lived  but  about  forty  years  after  him.  He,  who 
wishes  to  see  all  the  natural  history  of  the  antients 
at  a  glance,  may  consult  Pliny  to  advantage. 

The  famous  Galen  flourished  about  130  years  af- 
ter Christ.  He  was,  for  that  day,  a  great  traveller, 
and  might  have  increased  the  catalogue  of  plants ; 


96  THE    BOTANIST. 

but  he  contented  himself  in  descanting  on  the  medi- 
cinal virtues  of  those  mentioned  by  his  predecessor. 

After  the  sixth  century,  learning  was  almost  entire- 
ly abolished  by  the  Goths.  Whilst  a  swarm  of  north- 
ern barbarians  were  destroying  taste  and  learning  in 
the  western  empire,  the  Arabians  who  were  follow- 
ers of  the  renowned  Mahomet,  over-ran  the  eastern. 
By  conquering  Greece,  they  monopolized  all  the 
writings  of  that  famous  nation.  During  400  years 
there  was  no  attempt  to  draw  from  its  obscurity  the 
botany  of  the  antients.  At  length  one  of  the  Sara- 
cen califs  ordered  the  Greek  books  on  medicine  to 
be  translated  into  Arabic,  or  their  mixed  Saracen 
language  ;  and  botany,  which  is  a  branch  of  medi- 
cine, attracted  their  notice.  Serapio  collected  the 
Greek  and  Arabian  authors,  who  had  written  on 
plants;  and  after  him  followed  Razis,  Avicenna, 
Averhoes,  Actuarius,  and  several  others  of  less  note. 
They  were  more  attentive  to  the  materia  medica  in 
general  than  to  plants  in  particular.  To  them  we 
owe  the  knowledge  of  sugar,  of  distilled  spirits,  of 
rhubarb,  senna,  and  most  of  the  milder  cathartics. 

After  a  dark  and  dismal  period,  emphatically  styl- 
ed the  barbarous  or  dark  ages,  a  dawn  of  light  be- 
gan to  to  appear,  first,  in  Italy,  and  from  thence,  a 
second  time,  over  the  world,  when  Medicine,  and 
her  hand-maid  Botany,  emerged  from  the  gloom  of 
barbarism  ;  for  in  1470  Theodore  Gaza,  a  Greek 
refugee  at  Rome,  resuscitated  philosophy  by  making 
elegant  translations  of  Aristotle  and  Theophrastus, 
who  were  commented  on  in  the  sequel  by  Scaliger 


THE   BOTANIST.  97 

and  Stapcl.  Dioscorides  was  likewise  translated  in- 
to pure  and  beautiful  Latin  by  a  Venetian  nobleman. 

John  Parkinson  Avrote  his  Paradisus  Terrestris 
in  1629.  He  was  apothecary  to  the  king.  The  his- 
tory of  flowers  he  gave  at  great  length.  In  his  The- 
atrum  Botanicum  he  has  comprehended  more  spe- 
cies of  plants,  than  were  to  be  found  in  any  history 
of  plants  published  before  his  time. 

Among  public  gardens,  in  which  plants  were  de- 
monstrated by  professors,  that  of  Padua  is  the  oldest. 
It  commenced  about  the  year  1530.  From  that  pe- 
riod, professors  of  botany  have  been  established  in 
almost  every  school  of  medicine. 

The  famous  Cesmo  de  Medicis  founded  a  botanic 
garden  at  Pisa  ;  and  committed  it  to  the  care  of  An- 
dreas Ccesalpinus,  a  celebrated  physician,  botanist, 
and  anatomist,  the  father  of  the  botanic  system  and 
professor  of  botany  at  Padua. 

Prosper  Alpinus  was  nearly  as  eminent  in  botany 
as  in  physic.  He  made  a  large  and  rare  collection 
of  plants  in  Egypt,  and  afterwards  read  lectures  on. 
botany  at  Venice. 

The  famous  Henry  the  fourth  of  France  founded 
the  botanic  garden  at  Montpelier  in  1598;  the  care 
of  which  has  successively  been  committed  to  dis- 
tinguished botanists,  who  were  also  physicians. 

Francis  the  Jirst  was  a  great  admirer  of  botany, 
and  a  liberal  encourager  of  every  plan  that  could  im- 
prove and  advance  it. 

Lewis  the  fourteenth  founded  a  noble  garden  in 
the  suburbs  of  St  Victoris  at  Paris,  and  put  it  under 
13 


Sfc  THE    BOTANIST. 

the  care  of  Heroarcl,  his  chief  physician,  and  Guide 
Borossxas,  his  physician  in  ordinary. 

It  is  about  150  years  since  botanic  gardens  were 
established  in  England.  Those  at  Chelsea  and  Ox- 
ford are  the  most  anticnt.  About  the  same  time, 
botanic  gardens  were  formed  in  Holland.  The  gar- 
den at  Leyden  is  the  most  celebrated.  The  great 
Boerhaave  was  professor  of  botany  there,  at  the  same 
time  that  he  filled  Europe  with  his  fame  as  profes- 
sor of  physic. 

Prior  to  this  period  two  illustrious  brothers  ap- 
peared, who  alone  have  done  more  for  the  advance- 
ment of  botany,  than  all  the  rest  together,  who  pre- 
ceded and  followed  them,  until  Tournefort.  Rare 
geniusses  !  says  the  celebrated  Rousseau,  whose 
vast  knowledge  and  solid  labours,  consecrated  to 
botany,  rendered  them  worthy  of  that  immortality 
which  they  have  acquired.  For,  till  this  part  of 
natural  history  falls  into  oblivion,  the  names  oiJohn 
and  Caspar  Bauhm  will  live  along  with  it  in  the 
memory  of  mankind.  Each  of  these  indefatigable 
men,  par  nobile  fratrum,  undertook  an  universal  his- 
tory of  plants,  and  to  add  to  it  a  synonymy,  or  exact 
list  of  the  names  that  every  plant  bore  in  all  the  writ- 
ers which  preceded  them. 

John  nearly  completed  his  undertaking  in  three 
volumes  folio,  but  did  not  live  to  publish  the  whole. 
Caspar  laboured  forty  years,  but  the  life  of  man  is 
too  short  for  the  execution  of  a  plan  so  extensive.  ' 
Their  works  are  still  the  guide  to  all  those,  who 
wish  to  consult  antient  authors  on  botany.     John 


THE    BOTANIST.  99 

Bauhin  was  born  at  Lyons  in  1541,  and  died  in 
1624.     Caspar  was  born  1560,  and  died  1624. 

After  this  period,  scarcely  an  author  wrote  on 
medicine,  but  wrote  more  or  less  on  botany ;  of  these 
we  must  not  omit  Fuc/isius,  who  in  1530  published 
five  hundred  and  ten  figures  of  plants  ;  nor  Rondele- 
tius,  a  physician  of  Montpelier.  Nor  may  we  for- 
get Turner,  a  learned  English  physician,  who  pub* 
lished  the  first  history  of  plants  in  English,  with  most 
of  the  figures  of  Fuchsius.  He  gave  the  names  of 
the  plants  in  Latin,  Greek,  German,  and  French,  in 
alphabetical  order. 

Hyeeronymus  Bouc,  a  German,  was  the  first  of 
the  moderns  who  has  given  a  methodical  distribu- 
tion of  vegetables.  In  his  history  of  plants  publish- 
ed 1532  he  divides  the  eight  hundred  species  there 
described,  into  three  classes,  founded  on  their  qual- 
ities, habit,  figure  and  size  ;  Clusius  endeavoured 
soon  after  to  establish  the  natural  distinction  of  The- 
ophrastus,  which  w  is  into  trees,  shrubs,  and  under- 
shrubs.  Others  attempted  to  characterize  plants 
by  the  roots,  stems,  and  leaves,  but  all  were  found 
insufficient. 


THE   BOTANIST. 

N°.  X. 

Such  was  the  unsettled  state  of  botanical  method, 
when  Con' rad  GESNERof  Switzerland  turned  his 
eye  to  the  Jiower  and  fruit ;  and  suggested  the  jisrl 
idea  of  a  systematic  arrangement.  It  was  in  1506  that 
Gesner  proposed  to  the  world  his  idea  of  an  arrange- 
ment from  the  parts  of  the  flower  and  fruit.  No 
plan  however  was  established  by  Gesner  upon  this 
principle ;  he  merely  suggested  the  idea ;  but  the 
application  of  it  was  made,  twenty  years  after,  by 
Ccescilpmus^A  physician  and  professor  of  botany  at  Pa- 
dua, who  thus  favoured  the  world  with  the  first  sys- 
tem of  botany  ;  which  occurrence  marks  the  second 
grand  aera  in  the  history  of  this  science. 

It  might  have  been  expected,  that  a  method, 
founded  like  that  of  Cce^alpinus  upon  genuine  sci- 
entific principles,  would  have  been  immediately 
adopted  by  the  learned,  and  in  establishing  itself, 
have  totally  extirpated  those  insufficient  characters, 
which  during  so  many  ages  have  disgraced  the  sci- 
ence. The  fact  however  is,  that  this  system  of  Caes- 
alpinus  perished  almost  as  soon  as  it  had  existence  ; 
for  with  this  learned  physician  died  his  plan  of  ar- 
rangement ;  and  it  was  not  till  nearly  a  century  after, 
that  Dr.  Robert  Morison   of  Aberdeen,  attaching 


THE    BOTANIST.  101 

himself  to  the  principles  of  Gesner  and  Caealpinus^ 
re-established  their  scientific  arrangement  upon  a 
solid  foundation  ;  and  from  being  only  the  restorer 
of  a  system  has  been  generally  celebrated  as  its 
founder. 

Imperfect  as  is  the  mode  of  distribution  by  Mori* 
son,  it  has  furnished  many  useful  hints  to  Ray, 
Tournefort,  and  Linn&us,  those  great  luminaries  of 
the  science,  who  were  not  ashamed  to  acknowledge 
the  obligation.* 

Ray  proposed  his  method  to  the  world  in  1682. 
It  originally  consisted  of  twenty-five  classes ;  two  of 
which  respect  trees  and  shrubs,  and  the  remaining 
twenty-three  herbaceous  plants.  The  distinction  in- 
to herbs  and  trees,  which  Ray's  method  sets  out,  ac- 
knowledges a  different,  though  not  more  certain  prin- 
ciple, than  that  of  Caesalpinus  and  Morison.     The 

*  We  mentioned  in  our  last  number  Dr.  William  Turner,  an  English 
physician  of  singular  learning,  who  had  the  honour  of  publishing  the  first 
botanical  work  in  the  English  language.  There  is  a  copy  of  this  curious 
book  in  the  library  of  the  university  at  Cambridge,  bearing  this  title  A 
ne-w  Herbal,  ■wherein  tbe  names  of  herbs  in  Greke,  Latin,  Englysh,  Dutch,  Frencbe 
and  in  tbe  Potecaries  and  Herbaries  Latin,  -with  the  properties,  degrees  and  natural 
places  of  the  same,  gathered  and  made  by  William  Turner,  Physician  unto  the  Dute 
of  Somersettes  Grace      Imprinted  at  London,  anno.  1551. 

There  are  but  few  books  in  the  English  language,  printed  250  year« 
ago,  executed  with  more  elegance,  as  it  regards  the  numerous  figure* 
of  plants  as  well  as  the  type.  There  were  but  one  or  two  botanical 
books,  containing  figures  of  plants,  prior  to  this,  in  Europe  ;  yet  most  of 
Turner's  wooden  stamps  are  so  well  done,  that  the  herbariser  would  know 
the  plant  at  first  glance. 

It  is  pleasant  to  compare  these  first  effort*  of  the  graphic  art  with  the 
splendid  performances  of  Miller,  Curtis,  and  TUrnton  in  London,  and  those 
of  the  Flora  Batava,  executed  under  the  direction  of  Messrs.  Sepps  and 
Kopt,  at  Amsterdam. 


102  THE   BOTANIST. 

former,  in  making  this  distinction,  had  an  eye  with 
the  antients,  to  the  duration  of  the  stem  ;  the  latter  to 
its  consistence.  Ray  has  called  in  the  buds  as  an 
auxiliary,  and  denominates  trees,  all  such  plants  as 
bear  buds  ;  herbs,  such  as  bear  no  buds.  The  ob- 
jection, which  lies  ag  ainst  Linnseus's  distinction  in- 
to shrubs  and  trees,  from  the  same  principle,  may 
be  still  more  powerfully  urged  in  the  present  case  : 
for  though  all  herbaceous  plants  rise  without  buds, 
all  trees  are  not  furnished  with  them  ;  many  of  the 
largest  trees  in  warm  climates,  and  some  shrubby 
plants  in  every  country,  being  totally  devoid  of  that 
scaly  appearance,  which  constitutes  the  essence  of  a 
bud. 

Ray  allots  one  division  to  submarine  plants,  or 
such  as  grow  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  or  upon  rocks 
that  are  surrounded  by  that  element.  They  are  ei- 
ther of  a  hard  stony  nature,  as  the  plants  termed 
lit/iophyta,  of  a  substance  resembling  horn,  as  the 
corallines,  or  of  a  softer  herbaceous  texture,  as  the 
Jiici,  spunges,  and  sea  ?nosses.  It  is  curious,  that  the 
corallines  have  successively  passed  through  each  of 
the  three  kingdoms  of  nature.  Some  have  class- 
ed them  with  the  mineral  kingdom  ;  the  greater 
part  have  arranged  jthem  with  vegetables ;  but  natu- 
ralists have  now  demonstrated,  that  they  belong  to 
the  animal  kingdom.  The  animality  of  this  singu- 
lar tribe  of  natural  bodies  was  hinted  at  by  Imperati, 
an  Italian,  in  the  year  1599,  and  afterwards  by  Peys- 
sonel,  in  1727;  but  it  is  to  M.  Bernard  Jus sieu,  a 
French  academician,  and  Mr.  Ellis  ©f  London,  that 


THE    BOTANIST.  103 

we  owe  decisive  facts,  and  a  regular  detail,  demon- 
strating, that  corallines  are  ramified  animals.  Mr. 
Ellis  has,  in  his  natural  history  of  corallines,  parcel- 
led them  out  into  their  several  genera,  by  means  of 
fixed  and  invariable  characters  obvious  in  their  ap- 
pearance. 

Ray's  general  history  of  plants  contains  eighteen 
thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty  five  species  and  va- 
rieties. His  method  was  followed  by  Sir  Hans 
Shane,  in  his  natural  history  of  Jamaica  ;  by  Petiver, 
in  his  British  herbal ;  by  Dillenius,  in  his  synopsis 
of  British  plants ;  and  by  Martyn,  in  his  catalogue 
of  plants  that  grow  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Cam- 
bridge, in  England. 

Dr.  Herman,  professor  of  botany  at  Leyden,  was 
the"  first  who  introduced  into  Holland  a  genuine 
systematic  arrangement  of  plants  from  the  parts  of 
fructification.  Morison's  method  had  been  left  in- 
complete ;  and  Ray's,  though  perfect  from  its  first 
appearance,  did  not,  all  at  once,  attract  the  attention 
of  the  learned  ;  and  was  indeed  for  many  years  studi- 
ed chiefly  in  England,  the  native  country  of  its  au- 
thor. Ray  laboured  under  some  disadvantages;  he 
was  not  a  physician,  but  a  divine.  The  defects  of 
Ray's  original  method,  and  its  impracticability,  did 
not  elude  the  observations  of  Dr.  Herman.  He  had 
applied  himself  with  unremitting  ardour  from  his 
earliest  years  to  the  study  of  plants  ;  had  examined 
with  attention  every  plan  of  arrangement,  and  actu- 
ally undertaken  a  long  and  perilous  expedition  into 
India,  with  the  sole  view  of  promoting  his  favourite 


104  THE    BOTANIST. 

science.  Herman  exhibited  such  marks  of  unwea- 
ried diligence,  that  he  alone,  it  is  said,  reared  twice 
as  many  plants  in  the  garden  at  Leydcn,  as  had  been 
introduced  by  all  his  predecessors,  Bontius,  Clutius, 
Pavius,  Clusius,  Vortius,  Schuylius,  and  Syenus, 
put  together,  in  the  long  space  of  an  hundred  and 
fifty  years.  Such  a  man  merited  the  applause  of  the 
public,  and  attained  it. 

Dr.  Herman's  method  consists  of  twenty-five 
classes,  which  are  founded  upon  the  size  and  dura- 
tion of  plants  ;  the  presence  or  absence  of  the  petals 
and  calyx  ;  the  number  of  capsules,  cells,  and  naked 
seeds;  the  substance  of  the  leaves  and  fruit;  the 
form  and  consistence  of  the  roots ;  the  situation  and 
disposition  of  the  flowers,  leaves,  and  calyx,  and  fig- 
ure of  the  fruit.  The  method  proposed  by  Herman 
excels  all,  which  preceded  it,  in  the  uniformity  of  its 
classical  characters. 

The  famous  Boerhaave,  the  glory  of  the  medical 
art,  was  appointed  professor  of  botany  at  Leyden  in 
1709.  His  method  was  a  mixture  of  Ray's,  Her- 
man's and  Tournefort's.  The  submarine  and  im- 
perfect plants,  which  find  no  place  in  the  system  of 
Herman,  are  borrowed  by  Boerhaave  from  Ray. 
Boerhaave's  classes  are  thirty-four  in  number,  and 
subdivide  themselves  into  an  hundred  and  four  sec- 
tions, which  have  for  their  characters  the  figure  of 
the  leaves,  stem,  calyx,  petals,  and  seeds ;  the  num- 
ber of  petals,  seeds,  and  capsules  ;  the  substance  of 
the  leaves ;  the  situation  of  the  flowers,  and  their 
difference  in  point  of  sex.     By  this  method  Boer- 


THE    BOTANIST.  105 

haave  arranged  six  thousand  plants,  the  produce  of 
the  botanical  garden  at  Ley  den,  which  he  carefully 
superintended  for  the  space  of  twenty  years,  and  left 
to  his  successor,  Mr.  Adrien  Royen  in  a  much  more 
flourishing  state,  than  he  had  himself  received  it. 

Botanical  writers  were  disposed  to  walk  in  the 
track  of  their  predecessors.  Few  had  sufficient  cour- 
age to  venture  upon  an  unbeaten  path.  Morison 
followed  Caesalpinus  ;  Ray  improved  upon  Mori- 
son  ;  Knaut  abridged  Ray ;  and  Boerhaave  makes 
Herman  his  guide.  Rivinus,  a  professor  of  physic 
and  botany  at  Leipsic,  was  the  first,  who  in  1690, 
relinquishing  the  pursuit  of  affinities,  and  convinced 
of  the  insufficiency  of  the  fruit,  set  about  a  method, 
which  would  atone  by  its  facility  for  the  want  of  nu- 
merous relations  and  natural  families.  A  method 
purely  artificial  appeared  to  Rivinus  the  best  adapt- 
ed for  the  purpose  of  vegetable  arrangement.  It 
rests  upon  the  equality  and  number  of  the  petals  ; 
a  system  no  less  admired  for  its  simplicity,  than  fot 
the  regularity  and  uniformity  of  its  plan. 

The  method  of  Knaut,  Ludwig,  Po?itedra,  and 
Magnolias,  will  be  presented  in  a  future  number 
in  the  form  of  a  table,  together  with  several  other* 
from  Caesalpinus  to  Linnaeus. 

The  celebrity  of  Tournefort  requires  that  we 
should  dwell  a  little  on  his  history  and  character. 

Joseph  Pit  ton  de  Tournefort  was  born  at 

Aix  in  Provence  in  1656.     He  was  educated  in  the 

Jesuits' college  in  Aix;  and  like  the  great  Boerhaave 

intended  for  a  divine ;  but  like  that  ^reat  man,  quitted 

14 


106  THE    BOTANIST. 

divinity  for  physic.  In  early  life  he  was  nearly  as 
fond  of  anatomy  and  chemistry,  as  of  botany.  In 
1679  he  went  to  Montpelier,  where  he  perfected 
himself  in  anatomy  and  physic.  The  botanic  gar- 
den, established  in  that  city  by  Henry  IV.  rich  as 
it  was,  could  not  satisfy  his  unbounded  curiosity. 
He  ransacked  all  the  tracts  of  ground  within  more 
than  ten  leagues  of  Montpelier.  Then  he  explored 
the  Pyrenean  mountains  and  the  Alps,  and  afterwards 
examined  the  vegetables  in  Provence,  Languedoc, 
Dauphine,  and  Catalonia.  He  travelled  through 
Spain  and  Portugal.  He  took  his  degree  of  doctor 
in  physic  in  1698,  when  he  published  his  History  of 
the  plants  which  grow  about  Paris,  together  with  av- 
account  of  their  use  in  medicine. 

In  the  year  1 700  Dr.  Tournefort  received  an  or- 
der from  the  king  to  travel  into  Greece,  Asia,  and 
Africa,  not  only  to  discover  plants,  but  to  make  ob- 
servations on  natural  history  in  general ;  upon  an- 
tient  and  modern  geography ;  and  even  upon  the 
customs,  religion,  and  commerce  of  the  people. 
From  this  grand  tour  he  brought  home  one  thousand 
three  hundred  and  sixty- six  new  species  ol  plants, 
most  of  which  ranged  themselves  under  one  or  othep 
of  the  six  hundred  seventy-three  genera  he  had  al- 
ready established  ;  and  for  all  the  rest  he  had  only 
twenty-five  genera  to  create,  without  beiiig  obliged 
to  augment  the  number  of  classes  :  a  circumstance, 
which  sufficiently  proves  the  advantage  of  a  system, 
to  which  so  many  foreign  and  unexrtctt d  plants 
were  easily  reducible.     Vv  hen  Tournefort  returned 


THE    BOTANIST.  105 

to  Paris  he  thought  of  resuming  the  practice  of  phys- 
sic,  which  he  hud  sacrificed  to  his  botanical  expedi- 
tion;  but  experience  shows  us,  says  his  biographer,* 
that,  in  every  thing  depending  on  the  taste  of  the 
public,  especially  affairs  of  this  nature,  delays  are 
dangerous.  Dr.  Tournefort  found  it  difficult  to  re- 
sume his  practice.  He  was  at  the  same  time  pro- 
fessor of  physic ;  the  functions  of  the  academy  em- 
ployed some  of  his  time ;  the  arrangement  of  his 
memoirs  still  more  of  it.  This  multiplicity  of  bu- 
siness affected  his  health ;  and,  when  in  this  uncom- 
fortable state,  he  accidentally  received  a  blow  on  his 
breast,  which  in  a  few  months  put  an  end  to  his  ac- 
tive, useful,  and  honourable  life,  which  happened  in 
Dec.  1708. 

The  system  of  Tournefort  is  too  extensive  and  in- 
tricate to  allow  us  to  give  even  an  analysis  of  it.  We 
hope  to  be  able  to  give  an  outline  of  his  method 
in  some  future  number;  and  shall  only  observe 
here,  that  Tournefort  surpassed  all  his  predeces- 
sors in  supplying  a  clue  to  the  immense  labyrinth, 
which  the  vegetable  kingdom  exhibited  to  the  as- 
tonished botanist.  He  gave  the  first  complete  regu- 
lar arrangement,  and  cleared  the  way  for  one  still 
greater  than  himself.     For  in  I735f  rose  the  sun  of 

*  See  Hist,  de  PAcad.  des  Sciences,  An.  1708. 

f  The  first  sketch  of  Linnaus's  system  was  published  in  1735,  the  last 
edition  of  the  Systema  Vegetabilium  in  1784  ;  the  Critica  Botanica  wis  pub- 
lished in  17S7;  the  first  edition  of  the  Grnera  Plantarum  the  same  year; 
and  the  last  in  1764  ;  the  first  edition  of  the  Species  Plantarum  in  1753;  the 
second  in  1762  and  1765. 


108  THE    BOTANIST. 

the  botanic  world,  Linnaeus,  of  whom  we  have  al- 
ready spoken ;  and  to  whom  we  shall  frequently  ad- 
vert,  as  the  source  of  light  and  intelligence.* 


THE   BOTANIST. 

N°.  XI. 

BOTANICAL    GARDENS. 

We  asserted  in  a  late  number,  that  the  first  men- 
tion of  "  a  garden  of  herbs"  was  in  the  xxi.  chap,  of 
the  first  book  of  Kings  ;  but  prior  to  this  was  the 
garden  erected  by  Solomon.  /  made  ?ne,  says  he, 
gardens  and  orchards,  and  I  planted  trees  in  them  of 
all  kinds  of  fruits.  I  made  me  pools  of  water  to  wa- 
ter therewith  the  trees. 

The  island  of  Crete  was  the  physic  garden  of 
Rome.  The  emperors  maintained  in  that  island 
gardeners  and  herbarists  to  provide  the  physicians 
of  Rome  with  simples.  The  establishment  of  pro- 
fessorships gdve  rise,  in  modern  times,  to  Botanical 
gardens  ;  a  new  species  of  luxury  to  the  botanist. 

The  first  public  botanical  garden  of  this  sort  was 
that  of  Padua,  established  in  1533. 

*  We  have  compiled  this  history  of  botany  from  the  writings  of  Lin- 
naeus ;  from  the  history  of  the  French  Acad,  of  Sciences,  from  Milne,  and 
*.  J.  RousseaCr, 


THE    BOTANIST.  io# 

The  utility  of  these  institutions  is  self-evident. 
By  public  gardens  medicinal  plants  are  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  teacher  in  every  lesson  ;  the  eye  and  the 
mind  are  perpetually  gratified  with  the  succession  of 
curious,  scarce,  and  exotic  luxuries;  here  the  bot- 
anist can  compare  the  doubtful  species,  and  exam- 
ine them,  through  all  the  stages  of  growth,  with 
those  to  which  they  are  allied  ;  and  all  these  advan- 
tages are  accumulated  in  a  thousand  objects  at  the 
same  time. 

The  first  botanic  garden  in  Switzerland  was  con- 
structed at  Zurich,  by  Gesner,  in  1560. 

The  botanic  garden  at  the  University  of  Oxford 
was  founded  in  1632  by  Henry,  earl  of  Danby  ;  who 
gave  for  this  purpose  five  acres  of  ground,  erected 
green-houses  and  stoves,  endowed  handsomely  the 
establishment,  and  planted  in  it  as  supervisor  Robart^ 
a  German,  who  published  in  1648  Catalogns  Plan- 
tarum  Horti  medici  Oxoniensis,  &c.  which  contain- 
ed, if  we  read  rightly,  sixteen  hundred  species. 

The  botanical  garden  at  Edinburgh  was  founded 
by  Sir  Andrew  Balfiour  in  1680  ;  and  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  first  introduction  of  natural  history  in 
Scotland.  This  garden  was  so  successfully  cultivat- 
ed, that  it  is  said  to  have  contained  three  thousand 
species  of  plants,  disposed  according  to  Morison's 
method. 

Among  those  public  institutions,  which  in  a  sin- 
gular manner  invigorated  the  spirit  of  natural  histo- 
ry in  England,  the  Royal  Society  claims  the  most 
distinguished  notice.     In  its  design,  as  in  its  pre-- 


lit)  THE    BOTANIST. 

gress,  it  was  the  fostering  parent,  and  guardian  of 
natural  knowledge.  Such  was  the  respectability  of 
this  society,  both  as  a  body,  and  in  its  individuals,  that 
through  its  means  the  whole  nation  may  be  said  to 
have  amply  contributed  to  its  aggrandizements. 
Under  the  auspices  of  this  illustrious  society  the 
anatomy  and  philosophy  of  plants  were  illustrated  by 
Grew  and  Hales. 

We  mention,  in  connection  with  the  Royal  Soci- 
ety, the  Physic  Garden  at  Chelsea,  founded  by  the 
company  of  apothecaries  in  1673,  but  which  was 
not  effectually  constructed  till  thirteen  years  after  ;  so 
slow  and  gradual  is  the  progress  of  such  institutions 
at  their  commencement. 

From  the  time  of  Johnson*  who  was  the  editor  of 
that  celebrated  English  botanist,  Gerard,  a  custom 
had  prevailed  among  the  London  apothecaries!  to 
form  a  society  each  summer,  and  make  excursions  to 
investigate  plants.  The  Itinera,  published  by  John- 
son,  may  be  considered  as  the  fruit  of  such  expedi- 
tions in  his  day.  After  the  foundation  of  Chelsea 
garden  this  laudable  practice  was  fixed  to  stated  pe- 
riods, and  put  under  regulations,  the  herbarizing 
being  now  distinguished  into  private  and  general. 

*  Johnson  received  a  degree  of  M.  D.  at  Oxford  in  1643;  the  year  fol- 
lowing he  was  killed  in  a  desperate  action  with  the  parliamentary  troops. 
He  was  lieutenant-colonel  in  Sir  Marmaduke  Rawdon's  regiment.  Bota- 
ny owes  much  to  this  accomplished  scholar  and  soldier. 

f  In  England  an  apothecary  is  not,  as  with  us,  a  vender  of  drugs  ;  but  a 
practitioner  of  physic  and  surgery  ;  and  differs  principally  from  a  phy- 
sician in  not  having  taken  a  degree  in  medicine. 


THE    BOTANIST.  m 

They  first  begin  on  the  second  Tuesday  in  April ; 
and  are  held  monthly  on  the  same  day  till  September 
inclusively,  in  some  of  the  villages  in  the  immedi* 
ate  neighbourhood  of  London.  These  are  for  the 
benefit  of  pupils.  At  the  end  of  the  season  the  pre- 
mium of  Hudson's  Flora  Anglica  is  presented  to  the 
young  man,  who  has  been  the  most  successful  in 
discovering  and  investigating  the  greatest  number  of 
plants.  The  general  herbarization  is  annually  in  Ju- 
ly ;  when  the  demonstrator  and  others  of  the  court  of 
assistants  belonging  to  the  company  make  an  excur- 
sion to  a  considerable  distance  from  the  city  ;  col- 
lect the  scarce  plants,  and  dine  together  near  Lon- 
don. 

This  institution  at  Chelsea  was  rendered  more 
stable,  and  received  permanency  from  the  liberality 
of  Sir  Hans  Shane  ;  who  in  1721  gave  four  acres  of 
ground  to  the  company,  on  condition,  that  the  de- 
monstrator should,  in  the  name  of  the  company,  de# 
liver  to  the  Royal  Society  fifty  new  plants,  till  the 
number  should  amount  to  two  thousand ;  all  specifi- 
cally different  from  each  other ;  the  list  of  which  was 
published  yearly  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions* 
The  first  was  printed  in  1722,  and  the  catalogues 
have  been  continued  till  1773;  at  which  time  the 
number  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty  was 
completed.  These  specimens  are  duly  preserved 
in  the  archives  of  the  society,  for  the  inspection  of 
the  curious. 


ilSJ  THE    BOTANIST. 

Under  excellent  superintendants  Chelsea  Garden 
has  flourished  ;  having  been  excelled  perhaps  by  no 
public  institution  of  the  kind  in  Europe,  for  the 
number  of  curious  exotics  it  contains.  Of  this  Mil- 
ler's Dictionary  affords  sufficient  proofs.  In  justice 
to  the  memory  of  those,  who  filled  the  place  of  lec- 
turers and  demonstrators  in  Chelsea  garden,  we  re- 
cite the  names  of  the  following  gentlemen.  They 
were  all  practitioners  in  physic. 

Isaac  Rand  from  1722  to  1729 


Joseph  Miller 

1740 

1746 

John  Wilmer 

1747 

1767 

William  Hudson 

17G5 

1769 

Stanesby  Alchhorne 

1770 

1772 

William  Curtis* 

1773  t 

o  his  d 

Soon  after  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  a  grow- 
ing taste  for  the  cultivation  of  exotics  sprung  up 
among  the  great  and  opulent  in  England.  Archi- 
bald, Duke  qfArgyle,  was  one  of  the  first,  who  was 
conspicuous  for  the  introduction  of  foreign  trees  and 
shrubs.  Evelyn,  both  by  his  writings  and  exam- 
ple, encouraged  the  same  taste  ;  and  the  royal  gar- 
dens at  Hampton  court  were  made  rich  in  fine  plants. 
Dr.  Compton,  Bishop  of  London,  had  a  garden  rich- 
ly stored  with  plants  at  Fulham  ;  and  many  private 
gentlemen  vied  with  each  other  in  these  elegant  and 

*  The  Botanist  cannot  omit  here  a  tribute  of  respect  to  his  departed 
friend,  Curtis,  under  whose  tuition  he  herbarized  in  the  environs  of  Lon- 
don two  years  in  succession.  His  Flora  Londinensis,  replete  with  learning 
and  taste,  is  a  picture  of  the  man. 


THE    BOTANIST.  116 

useful  amusements.  The  growing  commerce  of 
the  British  nation,  and  the  more  frequent  intercourse 
with  Holland,  where  immense  collections  from  the 
Dutch  colonies  had  been  made,  rendered  the  grati- 
fications more  easily  attainable,  than  before,  and 
from  these  happy  coincidences,  science  in  general 
reaped  great  benefit. 

We  ought  not  to  pass  over  some  eminent  British 
gardeners.,  who,  while  others  were  increasing  the 
catalogue  of  plants  and  giving  accurate  descriptions 
of  exotics,  were  equally  serviceable  to  real  science 
in  the  art  of  culture.  Fairclulds,  Knoxvlton,  Gordon, 
Miller,  and  Forsythe,  have  distinguished  themselves 
in  the  useful  and  healthy*  exercise  of  horticulture. 
In  the  xxxii.  vol.  of  Philosophical  Transactions 
there  is  a  paper  by  Fairchilds  on  the  motion  of  the 
sap.  Knowlton  was  gardener  to  the  Earl  of  Bur- 
lington, and  was  much  noticed  by  Sir  Hans  Sloane. 
Several  of  his  communications  are  to  be  found  in  the 
Philosophical  Transactions.  He  died  in  1782,  aged 
ninety.  Gordon  was  eminent  for  his  successful  cul- 
tivation of  exotics.  He  maintained  a  correspond- 
ence with  Linnzeus,  and  has  a  plant  named  after 
him. 

The  extraordinary  merit  of  Philip  Miller  de- 
mands a  more  particular  notice,  as  he  raistel  himself 
to  an  eminence  never  before  equalled  by  a  gardener. 
He  was  born  in  1691.     His  father  was  gardener  to 

*  Cadogan  snys,  he  never  knew  a  gardener  afflicted  with  the  gout,  n«- 
less  he  was  noto.riewsly  intemperate. 

15 


THE    BOTANIST. 


the  company  of  apothecaries  at  Chelsea ;  and  he 
himself  succeeded  in  that  station  in  1722.  It  is  not 
uncommon  to  give  the  name  of  botanist  to  any  man, 
who  can  recite  by  name  the  plants  of  his  garden ; 
but  Mr.  Miller  rose  much  above  this  ordinary  at- 
tainment. He  added  to  the  knowledge  of  the  theo- 
ry and  practice  of  gardening  that  of  the  structure  and 
character  of  plants,  and  was  early  and  practically 
versed  in  the  methods  of  Ray  and  Tournefort.  To 
his  superior  skill  in  his  art  we  owe  the  culture  and 
preservation  of  a  variety  of  fine  plants,  which,  in  less 
skilful  hands,  would  have  failed  to  adorn  the  conser- 
vatories of  the  curious. 

Mr.  Miller  maintained  an  extensive  correspond- 
ence with  persons  in  distant  parts  of  the  globe,  from 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  Siberia.  He  was  em- 
phatically styled  by  foreigners  Hortulanorum  Prln- 
ceps.  His  Gardener'' s  Dictionary  was  first  publish- 
ed in  folio  in  1731,  and  has  been  translated  into  va- 
rious languages  ;  the  reception  it  has  every  where 
met  with  is  a  sufficient  proof  of  its  superiority. 
Linnaeus  said  of  his  dictionary,  Non  erit  Lexicon 
Hortulanorum,  sed  Botanicorum.  He  was  not  only 
a  member  of  the  Royal  Society,  but  of  its  council. 
This  "prince  of  gardeners"  died  in  1771,  aged  eigh- 
ty years.  A  plant  has  been  dedicated  to  his  hon- 
our.* 

We  shall  close  this  number  with  an  account  of 
the  botanical  garden  reared  by  that  celebrated  physi- 

*  The  MilUria  was  a  new  genus,  discovered  at  Panama,  by  Houston. 


THE    BOTANIST.  irs 

eian  and  naturalist,  Dr.  Fothergill,  at  the  village 
of  Upton,  six  miles  from  the  royal  exchange,  Lon- 
don. The  wall  of  this  garden  enclosed  above  live 
acres  of  land ;  a  piece  of  water,  or  winding  canal 
forming  it  into  two  divisions.  A  glass  door  from 
the  winter  parlour  gave  entrance  to  a  long  range  of 
hot  and  green-house  apartments,  of  nearly  two  hun- 
dred feet  extent,  containing  upward  of  three  thou- 
sand four  hundred  distinct  species  of  exotics,  whose 
foliage  wore  a  perpetual  verdure,  and  formed  a  beau- 
tiful and  striking  contrast  in  the  winter  to  the  shriv- 
elled natives  in  the  cold,  open  air.  In  the  open 
ground,  with  the  returning  spring,  about  three  thou- 
sand distinct  species  of  plants  and  shrubs  vied  in 
verdure  with  the  natives  of  Asia  and  Africa.  It  was 
in  this  spot,  where  a  perpetual  spring  was  realized, 
that  the  elegant  proprietor  sometimes  retired  to  con- 
template the  vegetable  productions  of  the  four  quar- 
ters of  the  globe  united  within  his  domain,  where 
the  spheres  seemed  transported,  and  the  arctic  cir- 
cle joined  to  the  equator.* 

But  let  us  have  recourse  to  the  description  of  this 
celebrated  garden,  as  given  by  the  President  of  the 
Royal  Society,  who,  besides  circumnavigating  the 
globe,  was  acquainted  with  most  of  the  botanical 
gardens  of  Europe. 

*'At  anexpense,  says  Sir  Joseph  Banks, seldom  un- 
dertaken by  an  individual,  and  with  an  ardour  that 
was  visible  in  the  whole  of  his  conduct,  Dr. Fothergill 

"  See  Lettsoro's  life  and  writings  of  Dr.  Fothergill,  Vol.  Ill 


116  THE    BOTANIST. 

procured,  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  a  great  number 
of  the  rarest  plants,  and  protected  them  in  the  am- 
plest buildings,  ivhich  this  or  any  other  country  has 
seen.  He  liberally  proposed  rewards  to  thotse,  whose 
circumstances  and  situations  in  life  gave  them  op- 
portunities of  bringing  hither  plants,  which  might 
be  ornamental,  and  probably  useful  to  this  country 
or  her  colonies  ;  and  liberally  paid  these  rewards  to 
all  that  served  him.  If  the  troubles  of  war  had  per- 
mitted, we  should  have  had  the  cortex  winteranus 
introduced  by  his  means  into  this  country  ;  and 
also  the  bread-fruit,  and  mangasteen,  into  the 
West- Indies.  For  each  of  these,  and  many  others, 
he  had  fixed  a  proper  premium.  In  conjunction 
with  the  Earl  of  Tank erville,  Dr.  Pitcairn,  and  my- 
self, Dr.  Fothergill  sent  over  a  person  to  Africa, 
who  is  still  employed  upon  the  coast  of  that  country, 
for  the  purpose  of  collecting  plants. 

"Those  whose  gratitude  for  restored  health 
prompted  them  to  do  what  was  acceptable  to  their 
benefactor,  were  always  informed  by  him,  that  pres- 
ents of  rare  plants  chiefly  attracted  his  attention  and 
would  be  more  acceptable  to  him,  than  the  most 
generous  fees.  How  many  unhappy  men,  enervat- 
ed by  the  effects  of  hot  climates,  where  their  con- 
nexions had  placed  them,  found  health  on  their  re- 
turn, at  that  cheap  purchase  ! 

"  What  an  infinite  number  of  plants  he  obtained 
by  these  means,  the  large  collection  of  drawings  he 
left  behind  him  will  ampiy  testify ;  and  that  they 
were  equalled  by  nothing  but  royal  munificence,  at 


THE    BOTANIST.  117 

this  time  largely  bestowed  upon  the  botanic  garden 
at  Kexv.  In  my  opinion,  no  other  garden  in  Europe, 
royal  or  of  a  subject,  had  near  so  many  scarce  and 
valuable  plants. 

"  That  science  might  not  suffer  a  loss,  when  a 
plant  he  had  cultivated  should  die,  he  liberally  paid 
the  best  artist  the  country  afforded  to  draw  the  new 
ones  as  they  came  to  perfection  ;  and  so  numerous 
were  they  at  last,  that  he  found  it  necessary  to  em- 
ploy more  artists  than  one,  in  order  to  keep  pace 
with  their  increase.  His  garden  was  known  all  over 
Europe,  and  foreigners  of  all  ranks  asked,  when  they 
came  hither,  permission  to  see  it ;  of  which  Dr.  So- 
lander  and  myself  are  sufficient  witnesses,  from  the 
many  applications,  that  have  been  made  through  us 
for  that  permissson."* 

An  Hortus  Siccus,  Herbarium,  for  collection  of  dri- 
ed plants,  is  often  a  pleasant  auxiliary  to  the  botanist. 
Sir  Hans  Sloane's  collection  of  dried  plants,  now  de- 
posited in  the  British  Museum,  contains  about  eight 
thousand  species ;  but  Dr.  Sherard's  is  a  vast  deal 
larger.  Tournefort's  collection,  in  France,  contains 
four  thousand  species  ;  that  of  Valiant  twelve  thou- 
sand ;  and  rhose  of  Jussieu  and  Adanson  contain  each 
about  ten  thousand  species  and  varieties.  These,  says 

*  See  Sir  Joseph  Banks's  note  to  Dr.  Thompson's  memoirs  of  Dr.  Fotli- 
ergii  1. 

f  Linnaeus  has  described  a  chest  capable  of  containing  six  thousand 
dried  plants,  in  which  the  divisions  or  cells  correspond  to  the  number  of 
classes  in  the  sexual  method,  and  differ  in  dimensions  according  to  thi 
greater,  or  lees  number  of  species  in  each  class- 


118  THE    BOTANIST. 

Dr.  Milne,  are  gardens  which  flourish  when  vegeta- 
tion is  no  more  ;  which  please  by  the  surprising  va- 
riety which  they  display,  and  are  rendered  eminent- 
ly useful  by  the  facility  with  which  the  natural  his- 
tory of  countries  the  most  remote  from  each  other, 
is,  by  such  means,  acquired.* 


THE    BOTANIST. 

N°.  XII. 

We  are  disposed  to  devote  a  number  to  the  mem- 
ory of 

MARK    CATESBY, 

principally  on  account  of  his  unwearied  diligence  in 
collecting ;  and  of  his  taste  and  elegance  in  describ- 
ing plants,  quadrupeds,  birds,  amphibia,  fishes,  and 
insects  of  the  southern  parts  of  these  United  States  ; 
and  because  his  splendid  volumes  have  been  long 
known  and  admired  in  America  ;  especially  by  those 
who  have  visited  the  library  of  our  University. 

"  We  asserted  in  our  last  number,  that  Turner  t  Herbal  was  the  first  bot- 
anical work  printed  in  the  English  language.  It  was  the  first  original 
work  ;  but  in  1516  Peter  Traveris  printed  the  first  English  book  on  bot- 
any, bearing  this  title — «  The  Grete  Herbal  whiche  geveth  parfyct 
"  knowledge  and  understandyng  of  all  manner  of  Herbes  &  there  gra- 
u  cyous  vertues  whiche  God  hathe  ordeyned  for  our  prosperous  welfare 
6C  and  helth,  for  they  hele  and  cure  all  manner  of  dyseases  &  seknesses  that 


THE    BOTANIST.  11& 

Mark  Catesby  was,  says  Dr.  Pulteney  (to  whonv 
we  are  indebted  for  this  article)  one  of  those  men, 
whom  a  passion  for  natural  history  very  early  allured 
from  the  interesting  pursuits  of  life  ;  and  it  led  him 
at  length  to  cross  the  Atlantic,  that  he  might  read 
the  volume  of  nature  in  a  country  but  imperfectly 
explored,  and  where  her  beauties  were  displayed  in  a 
more  extended  and  magnificent  scale,  than  the  nar- 

now  bounds  of  his  native  country  exhibited.     It  is 

j  » 

but  too  true,  that  the  world  at  large  will  forever  treat 
with  ridicule  and  disdain  that  man,  who,  thus  desert- 
ing the  paths  that  lead  to  riches,  to  perferment,  or 
to  honour,  gives  himself  up  to  what  are  commonly 
deemed  unimportant  and  trifling  occupations.  Few 
will  give  him  credit  for  that  secret  satisfaction,  for 
that  inexhaustible  pleasure,  which  the  investigation 
of  nature,  in  all  her  objects,  incessantly  holds  forth 
to  his  mind  ;  or  believe,  that  such  employment  can 
possibly  compensate  for  the  solid  treasures  of  gain. 

Mark  Catesby  was  born  about  the  latter  end  of 
1679,  or  the  beginning  of  the  next  year.  He  ac- 
quaints us  himself,  that  he  had  very  early  a  propen- 
sity to  the  study  of  nature ;  and  that  his  wish  for 
higher  gratifications  in  this  way,  first  led  him  to 

;'  fall  or  misfortune  to  all  manner  of  creatoures  of  God  created,  practysed 
"  by  many  expert  &  wyse  masters,  as  Avicenna  &c.  &c.  prented  by  me 
"  Peter  Traveris  1516,"  &c  &c  This  book  was  evidently  fabricated 
from  a  German  work,  entitled  Tbr  Bonk  of  Nature ;  the  first  book  ever 
printed  on  natural  history,  viz.  between  1475  and  1478;  and  from  the 
Hortis  tattitath,  printed  at  Paris  in  1 499. 

We  luve  compiled  this  number  chiefly  from  Dr.  Pulteney's  Biographi- 
cal  Sketches,  and  the  works  mentioned  in  a  note  to  our  last. 


120  THE    BOTANIST. 

London,  which  he  emphatically  styles  "  the  centre 
of  science;"  and  afterwards  impelled  him  to  Seek 
further  sources,  in  distant  parts  of  the  globe.  The 
residence  of  some  relations  in  Virginia  favoured  his 
design  ;  and  he  went  to  that  country  in  1712,  where 
he  staid  seven  years,  admiring,  and  collecting  the  va- 
rious productions  of  the  country,  without  having 
laid  any  direct  plan  for  the  work  he  afterwards  ac- 
complished. During  this  residence,  he  communi- 
cated seeds  and  specimens  of  plants,  both  dried,  and 
in  a  growing  state,  to  Mr.  Dale,  of  Braintree,  in  Es- 
sex ;  and,  some  of  his  observations  on  the  country, 
being  communicated  by  this  means  to  Dr.  William 
Sherard,  procured  him  the  friendship  and  patronage 
of  that  gentleman.  On  his  return  to  England,  1719, 
he  was  encouraged  by  the  assistance  of  several  of 
the  nobility,  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  Dr.  Sherard,  and 
other  naturalists,  whose  names  he  has  recorded,  to 
return  to  America,  with  the  professed  design  of  de- 
scribing, delineating,  and  painting  the  more  curious 
objects  of  nature.  Carolina  was  fixed  on,  as  the 
place  of  his  residence,  where  he  arrived  in  May, 
1722.  He  first  examined  the  lower  parts  of  the 
country,  making  excursions  from  Charleston; 
and  afterwards  sojourned,  for  sometime,  among  the 
Indians  in  the  mountainous  regions  at  and  about 
Fort  Moore.  He  then  extended  his  researches 
through  Georgia  and  Florida  ;  and  having  spent 
nearly  three  years  on  the  continent,  he  visited  the 
Bahama  Islands,  taking  his  residence  in  the  Isle  of 
Providence  ;  carrying  on  his  plan,  and  particularly 


THE    BOTANIST.  121 

making  collections  of  fishes,  and  submarine  produc- 
tions. 

On  his  return  to  England,  in  the  year  1726,  his 
labours  met  with  the  approbation  of  his  patrons. 
Catesby  made  himself  master  of  the  art  of  etching; 
and,  retiring  to  Hoxton,  e  n  ployed  himself  in  carry- 
ing on  his  great  work,  which  he  published  in  num- 
bers of  twenty  plants  each.  The  first  appeared  in 
the  latter  end  of  the  year  1730  ;  and  the  first  vol- 
ume, consisting  of  one  hundred  plates,  was  finished 
in  1732  :  the  second,  in  1743  ;  and  the  appendix, 
of  twenty  plates,  in  the  year  1748. 

A  regular  account  of  each  number,  written  by 
Dr.  Cromwell  Mortimer,  secretary  of  the  Royai  So- 
ciety, was  laid  before  the  society  as  it  appeared, 
and  printed  in  the  Philososophical  Transactions  ;  in 
which  the  Doctor  has  sometimes  interspersed  illus- 
trative observations.* 

The  whole  workf  bears  th_j  following  title  :  "  The 
"  Natural  History  of  Carolina,  Florida,  and  the  Ba- 
"  hama  Inlands  ;  containing  the  figures  of  birds, 
"  beasts,  fishes,  serpents,  insects,  and  plants  ;  par- 
"  ticularly  the  forest  trees,  shrubs  and  plants,  not 
"  hitherto  described,  or  very  incorrectly  figured  by 
"  Authors ;  together  with  their  descriptions,  in 
"  French  and  English.     To  which  are  aided,  ob- 

*  See  No.  4] 5.  420.  426.  for  Vol.1.;  No.  432.  438.  441.  449.  484, 
for  Vol    II.;  and  No.  4SG   for  the  Aopendix. 

f  Tom.  I.  1731.  pp.  100.  tab.  100.  Tom.  II  1743.  pp.  100.  tali.  100 
Account  of  Carolina,  &c.  pp.  44.  Appendu,  pp.  20.  tab.  20.  Fol.  im- 
perial, fig.  407. 

16 


122  THE    BOTANTST. 

"  servations  on  the  air,  soil,  and  waters  :  with  re- 
"  marks  upon  agriculture,  grain,  pulse,  roots.  To 
"  the  whole  is  prefixed  a  new  and  correct  map  of 
"  the  countries  treated  of."     By  Mark  Catesby, 

F.    R.  S. 

The  number  of  subjects  described  and  figured  in 
this  work  stands  as  below  : 

Plants          -          -          -  171 

Quadrupeds          -  9 

Birds           -         -         -  111 

Amphibia   -         -         -  33 

Fishes         ...  46 

Insects        -         -         -  31 

In  this  splendid  performance,  the  curious  are 
gratified  with  the  figures  of  many  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful trees,  shrubs,  and  herbaceous  plants,  that  adorn 
the  gardens  of  the  present  time.  Many  also  of  the 
most  useful  in  the  arts,  and  conveniences  of  life,  and 
several  of  those  used  in  medicine,  are  here  for  the 
first  time  exhibited  in  the  true  proportion,  and  natu- 
ral colours.  It  is  only  to  be  regretted,  that,  in  this 
work,  a  separate  exhibition  of  the  flower  in  all  its 
parts  should  be  wanting  ;  in  defect  of  which,  several 
curious  articles  have  not  been  ascertained.  '  It  is  a 
requisite  of  modern  date,  and  without  it,  every  fig- 
ure, especially  of  a  new  species,  must  be  deemed 
imperfect. 

Most  of  the  plates  of  plants  exibit  also  some  sub- 
ject of  the  animal  kingdom.    To  these  my  plan  does 


THE    BOTANIST.  123 

not  extend  ;  but  I  will  in  the  note,*  enumerate  some 
of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  vegetable  class.  As 
Catesby  etched  all  the  figures  himself,  from  his  own 
paintings,  and  the  coloured  copies  were  at  first  done 
under  his  own  inspection,  and  wherever  it  was  pos- 
sible, every  subject  in  its  natural  size,  this  work  was 
the  most  splendid  of  its  kind  that  England  had  ev- 
er produced.  I  do  not  know  that  it  had  been  equal- 
led on  the  continent,  unless  by  that  of  Madam  Me- 
rian,  which,  however,  falls  greatly  short  in  extent. 
Seventy-two  plates  of  Catesby's  work  were  copied 
by  the  Nuremberg  artists,  and  published  in  1750. 
His  "  Observations  on  Carolina,  &c/'  were  sepa- 
rately printed  in  folio,  at  the  same  place,  in  17G7. 


*  I. Of  tho«e  used  in  food  or  medicine,  I  select  the  following :  The  Cliin- 
kapin,  Fagui  pumila  ;  the  nuts  of  which  are  preferred  to  chesnuts,  and 
stored  by  the  Indians  for  winter  food.  The  live  Oak  Quercus  Pbelios  &.  of 
which  the  acorns  yield  an  oil  not  inferior  to  that  of  almonds.  The 
Snake-root,  Aristolocbia  Virginiana ,  well  known  in  medicine  The  May- 
apple,  Podophyllum  pdatum ;  used  as  ipecaquanha  in  Carolina.  The  Hicco- 
ry  tree,  Juglans  alia ;  the  nuts  afford  excellent  winter  provision  among 
the  Indians,  and  yield  fine  oil ;  the  young  wood  preferred  for  hoops,  and 
.the  old  for  fire-wood.  The  China  root  of  Carolina,  Smtlax  Tamonldes. 
Sassafras-tree,  Laurus  Sassafras: ;  used  in  Virginia  for  intermittents.  The 
Cocco,  and  Tyre,  Arum  Colocasia ;  of  which  the  roots  are  eaten  by  the  ne- 
groes, after  destroying  the  acrimony  by  boiling.  Ilathera  Bark,  roton 
Cascarilla.  Laurel-leaved  Canella,  Canella  alba ;  well  known  in  the  shops, 
and  used  as  Winter's  bark.  The  Cassena.or  Yapon  of  the  Indians,  Prinot 
glabcr;  in  great  repute  as  a  restorative.  The  Virginian  Potatoe  or  Bat- 
tatas,  Con-volvulus  Battatas ;  of  general  use  as  food  among  whites  as  wtll  as 
negroes.  Marsh  Custard  Apple,  Annona  palustris.  Indian  Pink,  Shigella 
marilmdica,  of  the  shops.  Rice  Plant,  Oryza  saliva.  Netted  Custard  Vp. 
ple  An  ona  reticulata.  Wild  Pine,  Tillandsia polystacbia  ;  a  parasitical  plant, 
remarkable  for  holding  a  large  quantity  of  water  in  the  hollow  of  the 


124,  THE    BOTANIST. 

Catesby  was  the  author  of  a  paper,  printed  in  the 
forty -fourth  volume  of  the  Philosophical  Transac- 
tions, p.  4-35,  "  On  Birds  of  Passage  ;"  in  which* 
in  opposition  to  the  opinion  that  birds  lie  torpid  in 
caverns,  and  at  the  bottom  of  waters,  he  produces  a 
variety  of  reasons,  and  several  facts,  which  his  resi- 
dence in  America  offered,  in  support  of  their  migra- 
tion in  search  of  proper  food.  His  voyages  across 
the  Atlantic,  had  taught  him  the  ability  of  these  wan- 
derers to  take  long  flights.  He  mentions,  in  anoth- 
er place,  his  having  seen  Hawks,  Swallows,  and  a 
species  of  Owl,  in  twenty-six  degrees  of  north  lati- 
tude, at  the  distance  of  six  hundred  leagues  from 
land.     He  shows,  that  birds  before  unknown  to  the 


leaves.  Mangrove  Grape-tree,  Cocclobn  uvifera.  Cacao,  or  Chocolate-tree, 
Tbeobroma  Cacao.  Vanelloe,  E()idcndrum  •vanilla.  Cashew  Nut,  /inacardium 
Cccidentale  Ginseng,  Panax  quinquefolium  ;  the  famous  Ninsin  01  the 
Chinese. 

II.  Ot  such  as  more  immediately  respect  the  common  conveniences  of 
life,  are.  The  Cypress  of  America,  uprasus  dittieba  •  the  tallest  and  largest 
of  the  American  trees,  nine  or  ten  feet  in  diameter  at  the  ground,  and  mx- 
ty  Or  seventy  high,  aiFording  a  light  but  excellent  timber.  The  purple 
Bind  weed  of  Carolina,  said  to  be  one  of  the  plants  the  Indians  usi-  to 
gHard  against  the  venom  of  .ho  rattle-nake.  The  water  Tupelo,  Nyssa 
aqiutica  ;  the  root  supplies  the  place  of  corks.  The  Red  Bay,  Laurus  Eor- 
Ionia;  the  wood  excellent  for  cabinets,  and  beautiful  as  sattin-wood  Can- 
dle-berry  Myrtle,  Myriea  cerifera  ;  the  green  wax  boiled  from  the  berries 
with  one-fourth  of  tallow,  forms  candles  which  burn  long,  and  yield  a 
grateful  smell.  Soap-wood,  Sapindus  saponaria ;  the  bark  and  leaves  beat- 
en in  a  mortar,  produce  a  lather  used  as  soap.  Glaucous  JXiimosa ;  used 
as  sattin-wood  Brasiletto  wood,  Czsalpbua  Brasiliemis ;  a  well  known 
die.  The  Mangrove-tree  Rizopbo. ra  Mangle  ;  forming  almost  impenetra- 
ble woods,  the  recesses  of  turtle,  fishes,  and  of  young  .dilators.  The  sweet 
Gum-tree,  Liquidambar  styracifiua ;  yielding  a  fragrant  gum,  like  the  Tohi 


THE    BOTANIST.  12.1 

country,  find  their  way  annually  into  various  parts  of 
N  >rth  America,  since  the  introduction  of  several 
kinds  of  grain  ;  of  this  the  Rice- bird,  Emher'izc 
orizmom,  and  the  white  faced  Duck,'  Anas  discors, 
are,  among  others,  instances  too  suefficiently  known 
and  felt  by  the  inhabitants. 

Catesby  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Socie- 
ty soon  after  his  second  return  from  America,  and 
lived  in  acquaintance  and  friendship  with  many  of 
the  most  respectable  members  of  that  body  ;  being 
"  greatly  esteemed  for  his  modesty,  ingenuity,  and 
upright  behaviour." 

Before  his  death,  he  removed  from  Hoxton  to 
Fuiham,  and  afterwards  to  London  ;  and  died  at  his 


Balsam;  the  wood  adapted   to  cabinet-making.     Logwood,  Hamatoxylon 
campechianum.      Maiaogany-tree,  Sivietenia  Mabagoni. 

III.  Of  the  ornamental  kind, are,  The  Dogw  od-rree,  Cornus  jlorida ;  sin- 
gula tor  the  gradual  growth  of  the  petals,  which,  after  the  opening  of 
the  flower,  expand  from  the  breadth  of  a  sixpence  to  that  of  a  man's  hand. 
The  sweet  flowering  Bay,  Magnolia  glauca.  The  blue  Trumpet-flower, 
Bivnonia  carulli.  Loblolly  Bay,  Gordonia  Latianthus.  Carolina  All-spice, 
Cahc jntbus JloriJus-  Tulip-tree  L>riod?ndron  Tulipifcra.  Catalpa-tree.  Bitr- 
tionia  Catalpa;  unknown  in  Carolina,  till  Catesby  brought  it  from  the  re- 
moter inland  parts.  Sessile  flowered  Trillium.  Viscous  Azalea.  Small 
ash-leived  Trumpet-flower,  Bignonia  radicam.  The  Fringe-tree,  Cbionan- 
thus  Virginica.  Broad-leaved  Sea-side  Laurel,  Xylopbylla  latifolia  Willow- 
leave  IB  ly,  Lauras  aestivalis.  American  Callicarpa.  Herbaceous  Coral- 
tree.  M.itbrina  berbacea.  Yellow  Martagon  Lily-,  Lilium  suferbum.  Phila- 
delphtan.or  red  Mireagon  Lily,  Lilium  Pbiladdpbkmn.  Purple  Rudbcckia. 
Laurel-leaved  Magnolia,  Magnolia  grandifora ;  the  most  superb  fragrant 
flowering  tree  that  ornaments  our  gardens.  Yellow,  -md  purple  Side- 
saddle Flower ;  Sarracciia  fa-aa,  purpurea.  Umbrella  Magnolia,  Magnolia 
iripstala.  Climbing,  or  four-lea\  ed  Trumpet-flower;  Bignonia  capi 
Lime-leaved    Hibiscus.      Red    Piumttia.     White  Piutneria.     Broad-leaved 


126  THE    BOTANIST. 

house  behind  St.  Luke's  church,  in  Old- Street, 
Dec.  23,  1749,  aged  70,  leaving  a  widow  and  two 
children. 

His  work  has  been  re-published  in  175 1  and  1771. 
To  the  last  edition  a  Linnaeun  index  has  been  an- 
nexed ;  but  it  is  by  no  means  so  copious  or  perfect 
as  a  work  of  such  merit  and  magnificence  de- 
mands."* 


THE    BOTANIST. 

N°.  XIII. 

I  have  always  thought  it  possible  to  be  a  very 
great  botanist,  says  the  celebrated  Rosseau,  without 
knowing  so  much  as  one  plant  by  name.\  He  never- 
theless exhorts  his  pupil  to  pass  from  his  closet  to 
the  gardens  and  fields,  to  study  the  sacred  scriptures 

Kdlmia.  Balsam-tree,  C/i/*/'<z  rosea.  Virginian  Cowslip,  Dodecatheon  Mtadiw 
Carolina  Pancratium.  Lilium  Canadense.  Atamasco  Lily,  Amaryllis  atamas- 
eo.  Common  Stuartia  Mulacodendron.  Blue  Magnolia,  Magnolia  acuminata. 
Rhododendron  maximum.  And  finally,  the  Lily-thorn,  or  Catesbjea  spi- 
nosa.  Dr.  Gronovius  called  by  the  name  of  Catesbea,&  thorny  shrub  of  the 
Tetrandrous  class,  bearing  a  long  trumpet-shaped  flower,  succeeded  by  a 
yellow  berry,  which  Catesby  first  discovered  in  the  Isle  of  Providence 
and  sent  to  Europe  in  the  year  1726. 

*  From  Historical  and  Biographical  Sketches  of  the  Progress  of  Botany, 
by  R.  Pulteney,  M.  D. 

f  See  J.  J.  Rosseau's  "Letters  on  the  Elements  of  Botany,"  translated 
by  Martyn. 


THE    BOTANIST.  127 

of  nature,  instead  of  books  written  by  men.  This 
famous  Genevan  had  doubtless  seen  persons,  who 
bestowed  all  their  attention  on  the  nomenclature  and 
classification  of  vegetables,  and  thought  themselves 
botanists.  The  celebrated  J.  Hunter*  knew  not  the 
names  of  every  individual  in  the  armies  of  Britain; 
nor  the  discriminating  mark  of  each  company  in 
each  and  every  regiment ;  yet  he  knew  most  accu- 
rately the  anatomy  and  physiology  of  every  individ- 
ual. 

One  universal  language  should  be  adopted  by  bot- 
anists ;  and  it  is  important  that  it  should  be  well  un- 
derstood ;  but  it  is  absurd  to  make  this  the  prima- 
ry object.  If  the  study  of  plants  do  not  lead  to  a 
knowledge  of  their  uses  in  rural  enconomy  ;  and  to 
their  medicinal  virtues,  the  attention  to  the  aspect 
and  names  of  plants  is  of  very  litte  importance  to  the 
public. f  Before  the  Spanish  overran  Mexico,  Mon- 
tezuma transplanted  innumerable  vegetables  from 
the  woods  and  fields  into  his  royal  garden  ;  and  it 
was  the  business  of  his  physicians  to  investigate  and 
announce  the  medicinal  virtues  of  his  vast  collection. 
Would  it  not  be  well,  if  the  philosophers  of  the 
north  should  imitate  the  wise  example  of  these  more 
than  half  civilized  people  of  the  south  ? 

The  first  step  we  should  take  towards  perfecting 
the  science  of  botany  in  New- England  is  to  trans- 

*  Surgeon-General  of  the  British  army. 

f  It  apne.rs  from  the  preceding  history,  that  every  professor  of  botany 
was  a  medical  maa. 


128  THE    BOTANIST. 

plant  vegetables  from  our  woods,  bogs,  fields,  and, 
if  possible,  marshes,  into  one  garden ;  and  then  at- 
tempt the  naturalization  of  tropical  and  other  exot- 
ics. We  must  not  expect  to  have  a  garden  in  which 
every  plant  of  every  country  will  prosper,  or  even 
grow.  To  effect  this  we  must  imagine  a  garden 
planted  on  a  mountain  directly  under  the  equator, 
and  gradually  sloping  to  the  height  of  more  than  two 
miles  above  the  level  of  the  ocean.  There  every 
plant  of  every  climate  would  grow.  Alexander  de 
Homboldt,  a  Prussian  gentleman,  has  given  us  some 
very  interesting  facts  to  this  purpose,  collected  with- 
in a  few  years  past,  in  the  equatorial  region.  The 
vast  range  of  elevation,  from  the  shores  of  the  At- 
lantic to  the  heights  of  the  Andes,  affords  every  pos- 
sible degree  of  temperature,  and  exhibits  all  the  di- 
versity of  the  vegetable  tribes.  This  distinguished 
traveller  represents  the  different  kinds  of  plaifts  as 
following  each  other  in  a  regular  succession  up  the 
mountains. 

We  are  told  that  the  inhabitants  of  New-Spain 
distinguish  the  cultivated  part  of  the  country  into 
three  zones,  1.  The  tierras  calientes,  or  warm 
grounds,  which  never  rising  above  one  thousand 
feet  above  the  sea,  have  a  heat  of  eighty  degrees, 
and  yield  abundantly,  sugar,  indigo,  cotton,  and 
plantains  or  bananas.  2.  The  tierras  templades, 
or  temperate  grounds,  which  lying  on  the  declivity 
of  the  great  ridge,  at  an  altitude,  from  four  to  five 
thousand  feet,  enjoy  a  mild,  vernal  temperature,  of 
sixty-eight,  or  seventy  degrees,  that  seldom  varies 


THE    BOTANIST.  129 

ten  degrees  through  the  whole  year.  3.  The  tier- 
ras  frias  or  cold  grounds,  having  an  elevation  o£ 
eight  thousand  feet,  and  comprehending  the  high 
plains,  or  tabic  land,  such  as  that  of  Mexico,  of  which 
the  temperature  is  generally  under  sixty-three  de- 
grees, and  never  exceeds  seventy  degrees.* 

The  following  account  of  the  successionof  plants 
from  the  low  grounds  up  to  the  boundary  of  per- 
petual congelation,  as  marked  on  the  Andes,  we  es- 
teem both  curious  and  instructive.  They  are  the 
remarks  of  Humboldt  as  given  to  the  English  reader 
by  the  Edinburgh  Review  for  1810. 

"  Under  the  equator,  from  the  coast  to  the  height' 
of  three  thousand  feet,  grow  the  scitaminets  of  Jus- 
sieu, — the  palms,  the  sensitive  plants,  and  the  most 
odoriferous  of  the  liliaceous  tribe.  In  that  sultry 
zone,  where  vesretation  wantons  in  the  rankest  luxu- 
riance,  appear  likewise  the  theophrasta,  the  hymen- 
aa,  the  cecropia  peltata,  the  allionia,  the  conocarpus, 
the  convolvulus  littoralis,  the  cactus  pereskia,  the 
sesuvium,  portulacastrum,  the  toluifera  balsamum, 
and  cusparia  febrifuga,  or  the  quinquina  of  Carony. 
Between  three  thousand  and  six  thousand  feet  of  el- 
evation, occur  the  melastomts^  the  clusiu  alba,  the 
primus  occidentalism  the  ficus,  the  morcea,  the  call- 
car  pa,  the  acrosticum,  the  solanum,  die  dolichos  cro- 
ton,  and  the  passifiora  tomentosa.  Above  tho^e  lim- 
its, the  sensitive  plant  ceases  to  appear.  The  tree- 
ferns  range  from  the  height  of  futeen  hundred  to 

■  From  the  Edingbugh  Review,  April,  1810. 

17 


130  THE    BOTANIST. 

that  of  five  thousand  feet.  The  tracts  which  have 
an  elevation  from  six  to  nine  thousand  feet,  and  en- 
joy a  mild  temperature,  varying  between  thirty-four 
and  seventy-two  degrees,  produce  the  fuchsia,  the 
lobelia,  the  styrax,  the  tropozolum,  the  begonia,  and 
the  columella.  Towards  the  upper  part  of  that  zone, 
the  acxna,  the  dicho?idra,  the  nierembergia,  the  hy- 
drocotile,  the  nerteria,  and  the  alchemilla,  cover  the 
surface  with  a  fine  herbage.  This  is  the  region  of 
the  oak,  or  the  quercus  granatensis,  which  annually 
sheds  its  leaves,  and,  from  an  elevation  of  nine  thou- 
sand two  hundred  feet,  never  descends  near  the 
equator  below  that  of  five  thousand  five  hundred 
feet,  though  it  occurs,  under  the  parallel  of  Mexi- 
co, at  the  height  of  only  two  thousand  six  hundred 
and  twenty  feet.  The  ceroxyhn  andicola,  or  wax- 
palm,  whose  trunk  is  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet 
high,  grows  on  the  mountains  of  Quindiu,  from  six 
to  nine  thousand  feet  above  the  sea.  Beyond  this 
limit  of  nine  thousand  feet,  the  larger  trees  of  every 
kind  cease  to  appear.  Some  dwarfish  pines,  indeed,, 
rise  to  near  thirteen  thousand  feet.  The  several  spe- 
cies of  the  cinchona,  which  furnishes  the  salutary 
Peruvian  bark,  are  scattered  along  the  chain  of  the 
Andes,  over  an  extent  of  two  thousand  miles,  at  an 
elevation  from  two  thousand  three  hundred  to  nine 
thousand  five  hundred  feet,  and  therefore  exposed 
to  great  variety  of  climate.  The  lancifolia  and  cor- 
difolia  prefer  the  plains ;  the  oblongifolia  and  longi- 
flora  occur  somewhat  higher  ;  but  the  noted  quin- 
quina of  Loxa,  and  which  Humboldt  proposes  to 


THE   BOTANIST.  131 

name  the  cinchona  condaminw,  grows  at  heights  from 
six  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  eight  thou- 
sand feet,  where  the  mean  temperature  varies  be- 
tween fifty-nine  and  sixty-two  degrees,  on  a  bottom 
of  micaceous  chist  in  the  woods  of  Caxanuma  and 
Uritucinga,  This  precious  shrub  forms  one  con- 
tinued forest  on  the  eastern  declivity  of  the  Andes,  as 
far  as  the  province  of  Jaen,  and  the  hills  above  the 
river  Amazons.  Bark  of  a  similar  quality  is  thus 
obtained  from  very  distinct  kinds  of  the  cinchona  ; 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  caoutchouc,  or  common 
elastic  gum,  is  procured  from  the  inspissated  juice 
of  a  variety  of  different  vegetables — from  the  ficus, 
the  hevea,  the  lobelia,  the  castilloa,  and  several  spe- 
cies of  the  euphorbium.  The  wintcra  and  escallo- 
nia  occur  at  an  altitude  from  nine  thousand  two  hun- 
dred to  ten  thousand  eight  hundred  feet,  and  form 
scrubby  bushes  in  the  cold  and  moist  climate  at  the 
paramos.  Above  the  height  of  ten  thousand  five 
hundred  feet,  the  arborescent  vegetables  disappear. 
The  alpine  plants  occupy  an  elevation  from  six  thou- 
sand five  hundred  to  thirteen  thousand  five  hundred 
feet :  There  grow  the  gentians,  the  stalina,  and  the 
espeletia  Jrailexon,  whose  hairy  leaves  often  afford 
cover  to  the  shivering  Indians,  when  benighted  in 
those  upland  regions.  The  grasses  appear  at  a 
height  from  thirteen  thousand  five  hundred  to  fifteen 
thousand  one  hundred  feet.  In  this  zone,  where 
snow  falls  at  times,  the  jarava,  and  a  multitude  of 
new  species  of  panicum  agrostis,  avena,  and  dacty- 
&$,  cover  the  soil  with  a  yellow  carpet,  which  the  in- 


132  THE    BOTANIST. 

habitants  call  pajonal.  From  the  height  of  about  fif- 
teen hundred  feet,  to  the  boundary  of  perpetual  con- 
gelation, the  only  plants  visible  are  the  linchens  which 
cover  the  face  of  the  rocks,  and  seem  even  to  pene- 
trate under  the  snow. 

It  is  a  most  curious  fact,  that  those  plants  which 
seem  to  constitute  the  natural  riches  of  the  equato- 
rial regions,  are  never  found  growing  spontaneous- 
ly. The  car'ica  papaya,  the  jatropha  manihot,  or 
cassava,  the  plantain  and  maize,  from  which  the 
native  Americans  drew  their  principal  subsistence, 
were  no  where  seen  by  Humboldt  in  the  wild  state  ; 
nor  could  he  discover  the  potatoe,  though  this  val- 
uable root  is,  along  with  the  chenopodium  guinoa, 
cultivated  in  the  high  country  of  New  Grenada.  In 
the  lower  grounds  between  the  tropics,  the  natives 
raise  cassava,  cacoa,  maize,  and  plantains.  It  is  the 
region  of  the  mam??iea,  of  oranges,  pine-apples,  and 
the  most  delicious  fruits.  The  Europeans  have  in- 
troduced indigo,  sugar,  cotton,  and  coffee,  which 
they  cultivate  to  near  the  height  of  five  thousand 
feet  above  the  sea,  chiefly  by  the  labour  of  negro 
slaves.  Indigo  and  cacao  require  great  heat ;  but 
cotton  and  coffee  will  grow  at  a  considerable  eleva- 
tion ;  and  sugar  is  cultivated  even  with  success,  in 
the  temperate  parts  of  Quito.  This  is  the  habita- 
tion of  the  cerealm,  or  bread-corn.  The  introduc- 
tion of  wheat  into  New  Spain,  is  traced  to  three  or 
four  grains  which  a  negro  servant  of  Cortez  picked 
out  from  among  the  stores  of  rice  that  had  been  sent 
from  Europe,  for  subsisting  the  troops.  The  monks 


THE   BOTANIST.  l$& 

of  Quito  still  preserve,  as  a  precious  relic,  the  earth- 
en jar  in  which  Father  Rixi  of  Ghent  gathered  the 
first  crop,  from  a  spot  of  ground   cleared  away  in 
front  of  the  convent.    Wheat,  under  the  equator  will 
seldom   form  an  ear   below  the  elevation   of  four 
thousand  five  hundred  feet,  or  ripen  it  above  that 
of  ten  thousand  eight  hundred.     Barley  is  made  to 
grow  somewhat  higher ;  but  then  with  the  utmost 
difficulty.     Between  the  altitudes  of  six  and  nine 
thousand  feet,   lies  the  climate  best  suited  for  the 
culture  of  all  kinds  of  European  grain.   In  the  same 
tract  is  raised  the  chenopod'ium  quinoa.     From  the 
elevation  of  four  thousand  three  hundred  feet  to  that 
of  six  thousand  two  hundred  feet,  grows  the  ery- 
throxylum  peruvianum,  whose  leaves,  called  cocca, 
being  mixed  with  quick  lime,  serve  to  stimulate  the 
exhausted  force  of  the  Indian,  during  his  long  and 
toilsome  journies  over  the  heights  of  the  Andes. 
In  the  space  between  the  altitudes  of  nine  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  thirteen  thousand  feet,  potatoes 
and  the  tropoeolum  esculentum  are  generally  culti- 
vated." 

While  Padua,  Paris,  Madrid,  Upsal,  Oxford, 
Leyden,  and  Montpelier  had  flourishing  botanical 
gardens,  London,  so  celebrated  in  the  annals  of  sci- 
ence, couid  boast  of  no  public  botanical  garden  until 
1780  ;  and  even  then  it  was  begun  and  conducted  by 
a  private  individual,  without  any  property  to  carry 
it  on,  excepting  what  arose  from  his  daily  practice 
in  physic  and  surgery  ;  and  even  this  practice  was 
.finally  sacrificed  to  his  ruling  passion,  botany.    The 


334  THE    BOTANIST. 

person  of  whom  we  speak  is  William  Curtis-, 
author  of  the  Flora  Londinensis,  and  Botanic  Maga- 
zine. As  the  writer  of  these  essays  was,  during  sev- 
eral years,  a  witness  of  the  unwearied  exertions  of 
his  friend  and  teacher,  he  conceives  it  may  be  ser- 
viceable as  well  as  agreeable  at  this  period,  to  give 
some  account  of  the  founder  of  the  botanical  garden 
near  London,  together  with  a  description  of  it. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Curtis-  became  enamoured  with 
botany,  a  large  share  of  lucrative  practice  devolved 
upon  him  by  the  death  of  an  old  preceptor  and  part- 
ner. He  then  began  to  publish  a  description  of  all 
the  plants  in  and  about  London,  in  large  folio,  ele- 
gantly designed,  and  coloured  after  nature.  Not 
merely  the  expense  of  this  great  work,  but  the  at- 
tention it  demanded,  alarmed  the  friends  of  Curtis. 
Even  the  sagacious  and  benevolent  Fothergill,  u  the 
friend  of  mankind  and  of  merit"  checked  the  Row- 
ings of  his  bounty,  lest  he  should  be  accessary  to  the 
ruin  of  his  young  friend,  already  too  much  disposed 
to  quit  the  practice  of  physic  to  follow  enchanting 
Flora.  Fothergill  had  a  great  regard  for  Curtis,  and 
being  of  the  same  religious  persuasion,  would  have 
left  nothing  undone  for  advancing,  what  he  conceiv- 
ed to  be  his  true  interest ;  which  he  believed  to  be, 
that  of  following  with  undivided  attention,  the  prac- 
tice of  physic.     Often,  on  receiving  the    splendid 

;  Mr.  Curtis  was  a  practitioner  of  physic  and  surgery,  but  never  had  a 
medical  degree  ;  of  course  he  had  not  the  title  of  doctor,  but  was  called 
an  apothecary ; — a  distinction  rigidly  adhered  to  in  London,  while  we  in 
New  England  call  every  practitioner  of  physic  or  surgery  doctor. 


THE    BOTANIST. 

numbers  of  the  Flora  Londinensis,  has  the  Botan- 
ist heard  the  venerable  Fothergill exclaim,  "These 
plates  I  view  with  more  pain  than  pleasure.  They 
will  ruin  the  author,  by  diverting  him  from  his  lu- 
crative practice,  and  plunging  him  into  expense,  be- 
yond what  any  man  of  independent  fortune  can  sus- 
tain. The  load  is  too  heavy  for  this  young  man, 
and  it  will  break  his  back."  But  Fothergill,  though 
possessed  of  the  "  perspicax  oculus"  in  a  preeminent 
degree,  did  not  then  see,  that  the  mild  and  silent 
Curtis  was  indued  with  the  persevering  spirit  of 
Linn ze us.  He  little  thought,  that  this  meek  and 
quiet  man  would  finally  effect  all  that  he  meditated  ; 
and  that  to  the  Flora  Londinensis  he  would  add  the 
Monthly  Botanic  Magazine,  and  to  both  a  Botani- 
cal Garden  !  Deep  enthusiasm  is  seldom  accompa- 
nied with  great  ardour  of  expression.  Under  a  mild 
and  playful  disposition,  William  Curtis  was  animated 
with  a  persevering  spirit,  that,  in  a  different  walk  of 
life,  might  have  wearied  out  the  patience  of  a  Xeno- 
phon,  and  discouraged  Hannibal  himself.  It  has 
been  said,  that  Curtis  composed  his  Botanical  Mag- 
azine, as  Dr.  Johnson  did  his  Rambler ;  the  one  to 
support  him  under  the  arduous  work  of  his  Diction- 
ary,  and  the  other  of  his  Flora. 

The  King,  the  Queen,  and  most  of  the  Nobility 
were  subscribers  to  the  Flora  Londinensis:  It  is. 
however  remarkable,  that  when  Curtis  began  his 
Botanic  Garden,  although  he  was  presented  with  ma- 
ny scarce  and  valuable  plants  from  the  royal  gardens 
at  Kew.    as  well  as  from  those  of  the  Earl  of  Bute 


136  THE    BOTANIST. 

at  Sutton,  the  Dutchess  of  Portland  at  Blustrade, 
from  Dr.  Fothergill's  at  Upton,  and  from  Dr.  Pit- 
cairn's  at  Islington,  yet  he  never  received  any  pecu- 
niary assistance  towards  carrying  on  his  Botanic 
garden.  In  1783  the  number  of  subscribers  to  this 
institution  did  not  amount  to  more  than  forty.  When 
Curtis  died  (July,  1799)  a  general  regret,  i\  is  said, 
was  felt  from  the  throne  to  the  bookseller's  shop, 
that  the  author  of  the  Flora  Londinensh  and  the 
founder  of  the  London  Botanic  Garden  had  never 
experienced  royal  patronage,  nor  national  bounty. 

His  first  essay  towards  a  botanic  garden  was 
at  Lambeth,*  near  the  Magdalen  Hospital,  St. 
George's  Fields  ;  but  he  found  the  situation  of  the 
spot  he  had  chosen  inconvenient ;  for  although  from 
its  position  it  appeared  peculiarly  adapted  for  the 
growth  of  aquatic  and  bog  plants,  yet  this  was  ac- 
companied by  many  disadvantages,  for  which  this 
fortunate  peculiarity  did  not  present  an  adequate 
compensation.  He  therefore  determined  to  remove  ; 
and  here  follow  the  reasons  as  detailed  by  himself: 

"  I  had  long  observed,  with  the  most  pointed  re- 
gret, that  I  had  an  enemy  to  contend  with  in  Lam- 
beth Marsh,  which  neither  time  nor  ingenuity,  nor 
industry  could  vanquish  ;  and  that  was  the  smoke 
of  London  ;  which,  except  when  the  wind  blew  from 
the  south,  constantly  enveloped  my  plants,  and  shed- 
ding its  baneful  influence  oyer  them,  destroyed  ma- 

*The  spot  was  called  Lambeth  marsh,  from  its  dampness;  but  was  not 
so  watery  as  to  deserve  the  name  of  marsh  in  this  country. 


THE    BOTANIST.  137 

ny  ;  and,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  proved  injuri- 
ous to  most  of  them,  especially  the  Alpine  ones.  In 
addition  to  this  grand  obstacle,  I  had  to  contend  with 
many  smaller  ones,  which  became  formidable  when 
combined,  such  as  the  obscurity  of  the  situation,  the 
badness  of  the  roads  leading  to  it,  with  the  effluvia 
of  surrounding  ditches,  at  times  highly  offensive. 

"  Nevertheless,  when  I  reflected  on  the  sums  I 
had  expended,  when  I  surveyed  the  trees,  the  shrubs, 
and  the  hedges  which  I  had  planted,  now  become 
ornamental  in  themselves,  and  affording  shelter  to 
my  plants,  such  of  those  inconveniencies,  as  1  could 
not  have  remedied  I  should  have  borne  with  patience, 
and  continued  my  garden  under  all  its  inconvenien- 
ces, had  not  my  landlord  exacted  terms  for  the  re- 
newal of  my  lease,  too  extravagant  to  be  complied 
with. 

"  Disappointed,  but  not  disheartened,  I  resolved 
to  attempt  its  re-establishment  elsewhere  :  I  looked 
over  the  list  of  those  who  had  patronized  my  form- 
er attempts,  and  finding  the  majority  of  my  sub- 
scribers resided  to  the  westward  of  the  city,  I  fixed 
on  a  spot  at  Brompton,  with  the  advantage  at  least  of 
some  experience  in  the  cultivation  of  plants ;  and 
here  I  have  witnessed  a  pleasure  I  had  long  wished 
for — that  of  seeing  plants  grow  in  perfect  health  and 
vigour. 

"  That  I  have  good  grounds  also  to  expect  that 

my   labours     will  be   crowned   with   success,  the 

list  of  those  persons,  who  have  honoured  my  garden 

with  their  subscriptions  the  first  year  of  its  forma- 

18 


138  THE    BOTANIST. 

tion,  affords  me  the  most  pleasing  proof.  Indeed, 
while  vegetables  shall  constitute  a  part  of  our  food, 
and  there  is  a  necessity  to  distinguish  wholesome 
from  poisonous  ones — while  medicines  for  the  cure 
of  our  diseases  shall  be  drawn  from  the  vegetable 
kingdom — while  agriculture,  the  grand  source  of 
the  wealth  and  strength  of  all  nations,  shall  be  ca- 
pable of  being  improved  by  a  closer  attention  to  our 
native  plants — while  botany  shall  be  studied  as 
an  instructive  science,  or  as  an  object  of  rational 
amusement ;  or,  while  the  beauties  of  nature  have 
power  to  charm,  so  long  a  garden,  on  the  plan  of  the 
one  I  am  endeavouring  to  establish,  will,  I  humbly 
presume,  meet  with  the  support  of  the  public." 

Nor  was  Mr.  Curtis  mistaken.  His  plants  ac- 
quired fresh  health  and  vigour  from  a  more  conge- 
nial position  ;  the  number  of  his  subscribers  increas- 
ed every  year,  while  his  own  reputation,  which  had 
been  augmented  by  his  lectures  and  his  publications, 
extended  not  only  to  the  most  remote  parts  of  his 
native  land,  but  throughout  many  parts  of  Europe. 
In  this  enviable  situation,  with  a  fair  prospect  of 
wealth  and  fame  opening  before  him,  this  excellent 
botanist  was  suddenly  snatched  from  his  family,  his 
friends,  and  the  public,  on  the  11th  of  July,  1799. 

On  this  melancholy  occasion,  the  establishment 
devolved  solely  on  Mr.  William  Salisbury,  first  his 
assistant,  and.  afterwards  his  partner.  Possessing 
youth,  he  has  added  to  the  bounds  of  the  botanical 
garden,  increased  the  library,  multiplied  the  speci- 
mens of  plants,  built  a  house  for  his  own  residence 


THE   BOTANIST.  139 

on  the  spot,  and  seems  anxious  to  adapt  the  estab- 
lishment for  the  use  and  accommodation  both  of 
public  societies  and  private  individuals. 

The  botanic  garden  is  situated  at  Queen's  Elm, 
in  the  road  to  Fulham,  exactly  one  mile  and  a  half 
from  Hyde  Park  Corner,  and  about  three  quarters 
of  a  mile  from  Brompton.  The  site  must  be  allow- 
ed to  have  been  well  chosen,  for  the  grounds  lie 
open  to  the  south  and  west,  except  where  the  plant- 
ations are  intended  to  exclude  the  sun,  while  the 
northeast  wind,  by  being  impregnated  with  the  ig- 
nited air  of  the  capital,  loses  much  of  its  sharpness, 
and  becomes  far  less  pernicious,  than  it  would  other- 
wise be  to  such  plants  as  require  a  bland  and  genial 
climate.  This  extent  is  about  three  acres  and  a 
half,  including  the  ground  occupied  by  the  hot  house, 
green-houses,  and  library ;  and  seven  acres  more, 
immediately  adjoining,  and  now  in  the  occupation 
of  the  proprietor,  can  at  any  time  be  included. 

The  arrangement  is  strictly  Linnasan  ;  and  every 
tree,  shrub,  and  plant,  is  labelled  so  as  to  afford  the 
advantage  of  an  easy  reference  to  the  correspondent, 
numbers  in  the  catalogue. 

On  approaching,  from  Fulham  road,  the  stranger 
perceives  a  door,  situated  nearly  in  the  middle  of  the 
plantation  ;  and,  on  ringing  a  bell,  will  be  immedi- 
ly  admitted.  A  broad  walk,  extending  across  the 
garden,  presents  a  parterre,  on  each  side,  in  which 
all  the  different  varieties  and  beautiful  hues  of  Flora 
are  exhibited,  in  regular  gradation,  according  to  the 
season  : 


140  THE    BOTANIST. 

"  Along  these  blushing  borders,  bright  with  hue, 
Fair-handed  Spring  unbosoms  every  grace." 

No.  1.  contains  all  those  plants  that  are  consider- 
ed- useful  in  agriculture.  Persons  skilled  in  this  art, 
have  an  opportunity  of  seeing,  distinctly  arranged, 
with  their  proper  names  and  species,  every  tree, 
grass,  and  shrub,  that  is  cultivated  as  food  for  man, 
the  horse,  cow,  and  all  other  subordinate  animals.— 
This  is  a  most  important  branch  of  natural  econo- 
my. 

No.  2.  is  the  medicinal  quarter,  in  which  the  stu- 
dent will  find  the  plants  of  the  London  and  Edin- 
burgh Dispensatories;  and  whether  he  himself  is 
destined  to  prescribe,  or  to  make  up  the  prescrip- 
tions of  others,  will  here  have  an  opportunity  of  be- 
coming acquainted  with  the  characters  of  those  herbs 
which  form  a  part  of  the  Materia  Medica* 

Among  the  curious  ones  will  be  found  the  Assa- 
foetida;  while  the  poisonous  tribe,f  only  thirteen  of 
which  will  thrive  in  the  open  air  in  Britain,  are  ar- 
ranged so  as  to  be  hereafter  detected  by  simple  in- 
spection alone,  f 

No.  3.  the  Foreign  Grass  quarter,  contains  the  Ly- 
geum,  Spartum,  the  Melica  Ciliata,  the  Triticum 
sestivum,  the  Juncus  niveus,  &c. 

*  Who  ought,  as  Dr.  Gregory  has  so  emphatically  advised,  to  make 
himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with  these  plants. 

f  The  Aconitum  Napellus,  Aetata  spicata,  Cicuta  Virosa,  &c. 

\  A  class  of  plants,  with  which  all  ranks  of  society  ought  to  be  ac- 
quainted ;  for,"  On  the  day  thou  eatpst  thereof,  thou  shalt  surely  die." 


THE    BOTANIST.  141 

No.  4.  the  British  Grass  quarter.  Here  the  ag- 
riculturalist will,  at  one  view,  behold  and  distin- 
guish those  gramma,  which  constitute  the  real 
wealth  and  fertility  of  a  country.  These  include  ev- 
ery species  serving  for  food  for  the  horse,  the  cow, 
the  ass,  the  sheep,  and  the  goat. 

In  this  interesting  collection  is  to  be  found  the 
Meadow  Fox-tail  (the  Alopecarus  Pratensh  of  Lin- 
naeus), which  is  the  most  fattening  of  this  tribe ; 
also  the  Anthoxanthum  Odoratum,  or  the  sweet  scent- 
ed vernal  meadow  grass,  that  confers  a  fine  aromat- 
ic flavour  on  our  hay,  together  with  a  complete  col- 
lection of  all  the  British  species  of  gramina  may  be 
seen  in  great  perfection  in  this  quarter. 

No.  5.  contains  the  British  plants  of  large  growth. 

No.  6.  the  British  wood. 

No.  7.  is  dedicated  to  British  rock  plants,  and 
aquatics. 

No.  8.  the  Hot-house  and  Green-house.  Here  I 
found  the  Dioncea  Muscipula,  a  fine  specimen  of 
which  was  lately  presented  to  the  President  of  the 
Linnaean  Society,  for  the  purpose  of  elucidating  his 
lectures  at  the  Royal  Institute.  I  also  saw  the  Stre- 
litzia  Regince,  so  called  out  of  compliment  to  the 
Queen  ;  the  Portlandia,  the  Plumieria,  the  Vanilla, 
Catesbea  Spinosa,  the  Ipomtea  bona  nox,  the  Ama- 
ryllis reticulata,  together  with  the  Crinum  crubes- 
cens,  all  in  fine  bloom. 

In  the  Green-house  is  to  be  met  with  the  double 
Camella  Japonica,  the  Phormium  tenax,  with  a  very 


142  THE   BOTANIST. 

excellent  collection  of  plants  from  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  and  New  Holland. 

No.  9.  the  Library.  This  is  an  oblong  building, 
with  a  lattice  work  towards  the  south,  through  which 
it  is  intended  that  the  ornithologist  should  be  recre- 
ated with  the  view  of  British  birds,  and  enabled  to 
study  their  habits  and  manners  while  alive. 

The  collection  consists  of  useful  works,  either 
on,  or  immediately  connected  with,  the  science  of 
botany,  such  as  Curtis's  Flora  Londinensis,  and  all 
the  other  productions  of  this  celebrated  natural- 
ist ;  the  Flora  Austriaca,  JDanica,  Britanica,  &V.  ; 
Linnaeus's  Genera  Es?  Species  Plantar  urn,  Systema 
Nature  Opera  Clusii ;  Mathioli  in  Dioscoridem  ;  the 
Hortus  Eystettensys ;  together  with  the  English 
Herbals  of  Gerrard,  Parkinson,  Johnson,  &c.  in  all 
about  five  hundred  volumes,  including  the  most  cel- 
ebrated agricultural  works  of  Young,  Marshall, 
Dickson,  &x. 

No.  10.  a  Green-house,  entirely  dedicated  to 
Heaths,  chiefly  from  the  coast  of  Africa,  of  which 
there  are  one  hundred  and  fifty  different  species. 

No.  11.  is  appropriated  to  bulbs  and  flower  roots. 

No.  12.  foreign  annual  plants. 

No.  13.  This  quarter  contains  upwards  of  one 
thousand  different  species  of  foreign  hardy  herbace- 
ous plants. 

No.  14.  foreign  Alpine  plants. 

No.  15.  American  plants,  and  foreign  wood 
quarter. 


THE    BOTANIST.  14.3 

No.  16.  is  a  double  border  of  foreign  trees  and 
shrubs,  extending  all  round  the  boundaries  of  the 
garden  on  each  side  of  the  walk. 

The  above  is  intended  as  a  popular  rather  than  a 
scientific  description  of  a  spot,  where  either  the  stu- 
dent or  the  adept  may  satisfy  his  curiosity,  by  means 
of  an  arrangement  executed  in  strict  conformity  to 
the  system  of  the  great  Swedish  naturalist.  Those 
also,  who  delight  in  the  contemplation  of  nature,  are 
recreated  at  a  very  trifling  expense  ;  and  flowers, 
plants,  and  trees,  at  every  season  of  the  year,  pre- 
sent an  almost  endless  variety  of  interesting  objects. 

Mr.  Salisbury  is  often  honoured  with  the  pres- 
ence, not  only  of  some  of  the  first  botanists  of  En- 
gland and  other  countries,  but  also  with  many  of  the 
British  nobility ;  and  he  has  often  beheld,  with 
grateful  satisfaction,  different  branches  of  the  royal 
family,  who  have  honoured  it  with  their  patronage, 
walking  along  the  paths,  appearing  delighted  with 
the  arrangement.* 

Such  is,  at  present,  the  Botanic  Garden  at  Queen's 
Elms  ;  in  the  further  improving  of  which  no  pains 
or  labour  are  spared  to  render  it  still  more  useful  to 
the  public.  It  remains  for  a  nation,  not  only  fond 
of  science,  but  ever  considered  as  its  munificent  pa- 
tron and  generous  protector,  to  enable  the  proprietor 
to  complete  his  plans,  extend  his  views  in  favour  of 
genius  ;  and  finally  to  form  an  establishment  equally 
worthy  of  science,  and  of  the  noted  liberality  of 
Great  Britain. 

*  European  Maga^iri." 


THE   BOTANIST. 


N°.  XIV. 


Whoever  becomes  seriously  engaged  in  Natu- 
ral History,  will  find  it  one  of  the  most  agreeable 
studies  that  can  occupy  the  rational  mind.  The 
pleasure  which  natural  history  affords  differs  from 
all  others,  because  it  brings  no  satiety;  for  here 
gratification  and  appetite  are  perpetually  interchang- 
ing :  yet  the  writer  never  has  nor  never  will  recom- 
mend it  merely  to  amuse  the  imagination,  or  gratify 
the  fancy.  Utility,  public  utility  is  the  principal  mo- 
tive which  has  impelled  him,  for  a  series  of  years, 
to  hold  up  Botany,  Agriculture,  and  Mineralogy  to 
the  attention  of  the  rising  generation.  This  coun- 
try, abounding  in  minerals,  is  yet  dependent  on  for- 
eign nations  for  riches  that  lie  under  our  feet.  How- 
ever humiliating  to  American  pride,  we  should  re- 
member, that  no  people  can  truly  be  said  to  have 
obtained  absolute  civilization  who  do  not  work  up 
their  own  metals,  instead  of  sending  them  to  other 
nations,  there  to  be  manufactured  into  utensils,  tools 
and  weapons.  Although  it  be  true  that  every  thing 
for  the  immediate  support  of  life  is  continued  with 
unceasing  circulation  from  the  upper  stratum  of  the 
earth,  it  is  nevertheless  as  true,  that  from  the  bowels 
of  it  a  nation  draws  nearly  all  her  means  of  defence, 


THE    BOTANIST.  145 

labour  her  tools,  commerce  most  of  her  riches,  ag- 
riculture her  chief  support,  and  the  fine  arts  ail  their 
materials.  An  inferior  nation  depends  on  a  supe- 
rior one  for  all  these  instruments  of  civilization.  A 
country  like  ours,  filling  fast  with  an  enterprizing 
and  ingenious  people,  and  possessing  wood,  iron,  and 
hemp,  looking  anxiously  towards  one  small  nation  for 
protection  to  its  commerce  ;  and  towards  another 
one  with  apprehension,  is  a  singular  phenomenon  in 
the  history  of  man  !  A  boy  may  tie  the  noble  war- 
horse,  by  a  small  string,  to  a  stake,  where  he  will  re- 
main until  he  starve,  and  this  because  he  is  kept  ig- 
norant of  his  own  strength,  and  of  the  weakness  of  i 
those  who  bridle  him  and  manage  him  ! 

Agriculture  is  the  art  by  which  we  can  live  in 
comfort,  without  dependence  on  other  nations.  It 
is  the  o-reat  art,  which  we  Americans  ouo-ht  above  all 
other  arts  to  pursue,  until  we  shall  be  able  not 
onlv  to  extend  commerce,  but  to  defend  it.  Yet 
this  honourable  and  independent  employment  will 
ever  remain  a  vague  and  uncertain  pursuit  unless 
we  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  vegetable  economy, 
and  obtain  a  happy  insight  into  the  physiology  of 
plants;  for  then  only  will  agriculture  acquire  the 
stability  of  a  science. 

Under  the  head  of  Agriculture  we  wish  to  in- 
clude the  culture  of  forest  trees,  especially  the  oak ; 
which  is  among  trees  what  iron  is  among  metals,  the 
strength  and  glory  of  every  nation  that  is  partly  mari- 
time, and  parti}'  agricultural.  That  wood,  like  this 
19 


146  THE    BOTANIST. 

metal  is  very  hard,  and  yet  not  very  heavy  ;  hence 
the  great  value  of  both.  The  Romans  called  the 
oak  robur ;  and  used  it  metaphorically  for  great 
strength  of  body  and  of  mind,  or  fortitude  ;  hence 
our  word  robust.  Robur  nodosum  was  the  club  of 
Hercules,  the  emblem  of  heroic  virtue.  And  an  oak 
with  its  acorns  was  held  in  high  veneration  by  the 
renowned  Romans.  Pliny  says,  Glandiferi  maxi- 
me  generis  omnes,  quibus  honos  apud  Romano s  per- 
petuus. When  speaking  of  crowns  and  chaplets, 
he  says,  that  that  civie  coronet  has  most  dignity, 
which  is  made  of  a  branch  of  the  oak,  provided  it 
bears,  at  the  same  time,  acorns.  The  arms,  or  en- 
sign armorial  of  a  nation,  should  be  expressed  only 
by  the  productions  of  it.  The  eagle  and  the  olive 
branch  accompany  the  thunder  bolt  in  the  arms  of 
our  nation.  The  olive  is  the  product  of  those  coun- 
tries, where  the  human  race  is  debilitated  by  that 
warmth  which  is  needful  for  its  growth.  Instead  of 
this  languid  foreigner,  let  us  place  in  the  ensign  ar- 
morial of  the  United  States  a  branch  of  the  oak  with 
its  acorns.  Providence,  whose  works  are  distin- 
guished from  human  art  by  manifold  conveniences 
flowing  from  one  single  contrivance,  gives  the  acorn, 
and  by  it  communicates  power  and  glory  to  a  na- 
tion ;  provided  that  nation  has  wisdom  to  appreciate, 
and  virtue  to  co-operate  with  its  bountiful  intimation. 
Let  the  branch  of  the  oak  then,  with  its  acorns,  en- 
circle the  American  eagle  ;  or  rather  let  the  emblem. 


THE    BOTANIST.  147 

of  the  western  Empire  be  a  Condor*  reposing  on  a 
mighty  branch  of  this  pride  of  onr  forests. 

Leaving  these  general  observations!  let  us  turn 
our  attention  particularly  to  the  anatomy  and  physi- 
ology of 

THE    LEAF. 

So  from  the  root 
Springs  lighter  the  green  stalk ;  from  thence  the  leaves 
More  airy ;  last  the  bright  consummate  flower. Miltm. 

By  Foliation  English  botanists  mean  the  compli- 
cation or  folded  state  of  leaves,  while  concealed  with- 
in the  bud ;  but  this  term  expresses  not  that  pro- 
cedure of  nature,  by  which  the  leaves  are  renewed 
and  developed  every  spring,  so  accurately  as  does 
the  Latin  word  vernatio. 

In  a  former  number  we  have  shown,  that  the  bud 
springs  from  the  medulla,  or  pith  of  the  plant ;  and 
by  searching  into  the  bud  we  have  seen  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  leaves ;  and  when  we  penetrate  still 
deeper  we  discover,   that  the  bud,  like  the  seed, 

*  The  Condor,  Vultur  Grypbus,  (Lin.)  is  peculiar  to  America,  and  it 
the  largest  bird  that  flies.  It  possesess,  says  Goldsmith,  in  a  higher  de- 
gree than  the  Eagle,  all  the  qualities  that  render  it  formidable  not  only  to 
the  feathered  kind  but  to  beasts.  Acosta,  Garcilasso  and  Condemine 
have  described  this  preeminent  bird. 

|  The  readers  of  this  volume  may  remember  that  these  essays  were 
first  published  in  the  Monthly  Anthology,  a  miscellaneous  work,  resem- 
bling the  London  Monthly  Magazines.  This  accounts  for  the  introduc- 
tion of  national  sentiments,  which  the  Botanist  feels  no  disposition  tc 
erase. 


148  THE    BOTANIST. 

contained  the  epitome  of  the  future  plant ;  but  dur- 
ing winter  it  wants  the  power  of  unfolding  its  parts. 
Bo-h  seeds  and  buds  contain  the  primordia  planta- 
rum:  buds  therefore  differ  from  seeds  only,  as  the 
living  foetus  differs  from  the  egg  of  an  animal;  so 
that  buds  are  seeds  in  a  more  advanced  stage  of 
vegetation.     We  have  already  remarked,  that  some 
buds  contain  flowers,  some  leaves,  and  some  both ; 
and  that  an  accurate  discrimination  of  them  was  of 
importance  in  the  process  of  budding.     To  watch 
the  vernation  of  the  embryo  bud,  the  gradual  un- 
folding of  the  foetal  leaves  and  infantile  flower,  is  a 
pleasing  speculation  ;  for  the  leaves  are  completely 
formed,   and  fairly  rolled  up  for  evolution,   many 
months  before  they  begin  to  expand.    The  study  of 
the  anatomical   structure  of  the  full  expanded  leaf 
and  its  functions  is  equally  delightful. 

We  shall  pass  silently  over  the  nomenclature  ol 
leaves,*  which  is  apt  to  discourage  young  botanists 
unused  to  geometrical  writers  in  the  Latin  tongue ; 
and  shall  pursue  the  more  pleasant  task  of  exhibit- 
ing, as  far  as  we  are  able,  the  structure  and  the 
functions  of  the  leaf. 

When  we  are  told,  that  '  a  leaf  is  a  part  of  a  plant, 
extended  into  length  and  breadth,  in  such  a  manner 

*  There  is  not  onlv  the  full  urn  bftdum,  trifdum,  cjuadrifidum,  quinquefdum, 
and  bipartum,  tripartum  qu  drlpartum,  and  qu'uqucpartum  ;  but  there  is  the 
folium  compositum,  decompo  hum,  and  mperaJecompOihum  ;  and  the  folium  am- 
pl-xicaule,  and  semiamplexic  ule,  and  a  luindrc'  others  having  reference  to 
the  shipe  of  the  le  if  >nercly  Good  sense  is  sometimes  embarrassed  when 
thus  oppressed  with  hard  words. 
. 


THE    BOTANIST.  U9 

as  to  have  one  side  distinguishable  from  the  other,'* 
the  naturalist  receives  but  little  information  ;  and  we 
obtain  but  little  more,  when  we  are  told,  that  they 
are  *  the  organs  of  motion  ;'f  but,  when  we  say,  that 
the  leaves  are  the  Iimgs  of  a  plant,  we  convey  an  idea 
more  consonant  to  truth  and  nature  :  for  we  find 
that  a  leaf  will  die,  if  its  upper  or  varnished  surface 
is  anointed  with  any  glutinous  matter;  or  when 
placed  in  an  exhausted  receiver.  If  we  should  sav 
that  the  leaf  combines  the  office  of  lacteals  and  lungs, 
we  shall  come  still  nearer  truth.  While  our  stom- 
achs digest  solid  food,  our  lungs  digest  air ;  so  that 
what  is  performed  by  two  organs  in  animals,  is  per- 
formed by  one  in  plants ;  let  us  then  examine  this 
organ  and  its  functions. 

The  leafis  attached  to  the  branch  of  the  plant  bv 
a  short  foot-stalk.  From  these  foot-stalks  a  number 
of  fibres  issue,  which}  ramifying  in  every  direction, 
communicate  with  each  other  in  every  part  of  the 
leaf,  and  thereby  form  a  curious  network.  The  in- 
termediate substance  is  greenish  ;|  and  may  be  eaten 
by  insects,  or  destroyed  by  putrefaction,  while  the 
fibrous  part  remains  entire,  constituting  the  skele- 
ton of  the  leaf.  There  are,  however,  two  layers  of 
fibres  in  every  leaf,  forming  two  distinct  skeletons  ; 
the  one  belonging  to  the  upper  part  of  the  leaf,  the 
other  appertaining  to  the  lower.  It  is  very  difficult 
to  demonstrate  the  anatomy  of  a  leaf;   but  we  have 

*  Miller.  f  Linnxus. 

\  Landslips  painted  by  the  best  masters  are  not  green. 


150  THE    BOTANIST. 

reason  to  conclude,  that  the  seven  essential  parts  of 
a  plant,  enumerated  in  the  fourth  number,  are  ex- 
tended, rolled  out,  and  extenuated  throughout  the 
leaf ;  so  that  if  you  slit  a  leaf  with  scissors,  you  cut 
through  as  many  different  parts  of  the  plant,  as  if 
you  cut  through  the  trunk  of  a  tree.*  The  whole 
leaf  is  covered  with  a  portion  of  the  epidermis,  or 
that  scarf-skin,  which  covers  the  stem  and  stalk  of 
the  plant.  Between  this  thin  membrane  and  the 
cortical  net- work,  are  placed  the  absorbent  vessels, 
together  with  what  we  presume  to  be  the  absorbent 
glands.  Dr.  Darwin  assures  us,  that  there  is  an  ar- 
tery and  a  vein  in  a  leaf;  and  that  the  artery  carries 
the  sap  to  the  extreme  surface  of  the  upper  side  of 
the  leaf,  and  there  exposes  it,  under  a  thin  moist 
membrane,  to  the  action  of  the  atmospheric  air ; 
then  the  veins  collect  and  return  this  circulating  flu- 
id to  the  foot-stalk,  just  as  the  artery  and  vein  ope- 
rate in  our  lungs.  It  is  hardly  fair  to  compare  the 
leaves  of  a  plant  with  the  respiratory  organs  of  the 
more  perfect  animals ;  but  rather  to  the  breathing 
apparatus  of  insects,  or,  what  is  perhaps  more  to  our 
purpose,  to  the  gills  of  fish. 

When  the  structure  of  any  organized  body  is  too 
subtle  to  come  within  the  scrutiny  of  the  human 
senses,  we  must  have  recourse  to  analogy  ;  and  from 
the  truths  we  discover,  and  the  observations  we 
make,  we  must  judge  of  the  operations  in  similar 
bodies;  for  we  can  form  our  opinion  of  that  which 

*  Is  the  wood  to  be  found  in  an  annual  leaf? 


THE    BOTANIST.  151 

we  know  not,  only  by  placing  it  in  comparison  with 
something  similar  to  what  we  do  know.   The  struc- 
ture of  certain  large-leaved  plants,  that  grow  in  wa- 
ter, are  remarkably  conspicuous ;    and  the  gills  of 
fish  resemble,  in  structure  and  office,  the  leaves  of 
these  aquatic  plants.     Duverney  and   Monro  have 
scrutinized  the  gills  of  fish  ;  the  former  found,  that 
those  of  the  carp  contained  four  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  eighty -six  bones,  which  were  moved  by 
sixty -nine  muscles  :  and  the  latter  informs  us,  that, 
in  the  gills  of  the  skate  fish,  there  exists  one  hundred 
and  forty  four  thousand  folds,  or  subdivisions.    This 
manifold  structure  gives  this  respiratory   organ  a 
surprising  extent  of  surface.     These   subdivisions 
terminating  in  innumerable  points,  resemble  fringe  ; 
but,  when  examined  by  the  microscope,  appear  like 
down ;  yet  is  every  part  crowded  with  blood-ves- 
sels, being  ramifications  of  the  pulmonary  artery  and 
vein.    The  whole  extent  of  the  gills  is  covered  with 
an  exceedingly  fine  membrane,  in  which  the  micro- 
scope discovers  a  still  finer  net- work  of  vessels.  By 
such  a  structure  the  fish  exposes  a  greater  surface 
of  blood  to  the  water,  than  is  exposed  to  the  air,  by 
the  internal  membrane  of  the  air-cells  of  the  lungs  of 
quadrupeds  ;  and  that  for  the  same  purpose,  namely, 
imbibing  uncombined  ox}  gen,  which  is  the  materi- 
al or  pabuium  vitas,  equally  necessary  to  fish  as  to 
land  animals.     Now,  if  we  compare  the  structure  of 
the  gills  of  fish  with  that  of  the  leaf  of  aquatic  plants, 
we  can  discern  a  great  similarity. 


152  THE    BOTANIST. 

The  gills  of  fish  present  an  immense  surface  to 
the  water  in  which  they  live,  in  consequence  of  their 
innumerable  folds  of  nerves,  blood  and  air  vessels. 
The  divisions  and  subdivisions  of  this  organ  are  so 
fine  that  they  resemble  a  most  delicate  fringe.  In 
like  manner  certain  aquatic  plants,  growing  in  the 
ponds  here  in  Cambridge,  have  subaquatic  leaves 
resembling  fine  moss,  or  rather  that  kind  of  silk  cal- 
led floss  ;  the  structure  and  use  of  which  are  the 
same  as  the  gills  in  fish.  While  those  leaves,  which 
are  growing  under  water,  have  this  delicate  struc- 
ture, the  leaves  of  the  same  plant,  when  it  has  shot 
up  out  of  the  water,  being  produced  wholly  in 
the  air,  become  intire  and  firm,  having  none  of 
those  segments  or  slits,  which  distinguished  them 
when  subaquatic  ;  so  that  the  one  leaf  under  water, 
has  the  structure  and  functions  of  gills,  while  the 
next  above  it  is  a  firm  leaf,  or  lungs,  by  reason  of 
its  breathing  the  open  air.  Here  a  change  takes 
place  in  an  amphibious  plant,  like  that  which  is  ob- 
served in  an  amphibious  animal,  on  its  passing  from 
the  tadpole  to  the  frog  state  ;  for  in  the  former  state 
it  has  gills,  and  in  the  latter  lungs. 

As  a  tree  cannot  go  in  search  of  food,  like  an 
animal,  it  is  forced  to  draw  its  nourishment  from 
within  the  narrow  sphere  of  its  existence  ;  it  there- 
fore extends  its  roots  through  the  surrounding  earth, 
by  which  it  draws  in  sustentation,  as  through  so  ma- 
ny syphons.  These  imbibing  vessels  of  the  roots 
may  be  compared  to  the  lacteals  in  animals.     This 


THE    BOTANIST.  16,1 

It  is  asked,  "  Is  this  season,  so  full  of  the  bloom  of 
nature,  unpropitious  to  the  unfolding  of  the  petals  of 
elocution  ?*  Let  the  great  Montesquieu  answer  the 
question.  Put  a  man,  says  this  sage,  in  a  warm, 
confined  place,  and  he  will  feel  faintness  and  lassi- 
tude. Thus  circumstanced,  if  you  propose  a  bold 
enterprize  to  him,  you  find  him  very  iittle  disposed 
towards  it.  His  weakness  will  induce  a  desponden- 
cy ;  he  will  be  afraid  of  every  thing,  because  he  feels 
himself  capable  of  nothing.  Faintness  of  the  body, 
produced  by  the  heat  of  the  climate,  is  soon  com- 
municated to  the  mind ;  and  then  there  is  no  curi- 
osity, no  noble  enterprize,  no  generous  sentiment. 
The  inclinations  are  passive,  and  indolence  consti- 
tutes his  utmost  happiness. 

Although  the  Botanist  has  been  ready  to  exclaim 
•with  Thomson, 

All-conquering  heat.f  oh  intermit  thy  wrath  ! 

yet  he  has  not  been  an  idle  spectator  of  the  transito- 
ry blossoms. 

For  as  the  vernal  sun  awak'd  the  torpid  sap, 

he  watched  the  infant  bud  and  emb-yo  flower  ;  and 
marked,  as  they  gradually  unfolded,  the  beauties  of 
the  breathing  leaf.  And  when  the  bursting  calyx 
gave  the  struggling  petals  to  the  admiring  sight,  he 

*  Hints  to  correspondents  in  the  Antholc  f  y  for  last  month,  where  the 
botanist  is  called  upon  to  renew  his  labours. 

f  July.    Thermometer  between  S8°  and  95°,  and  not  a  sprinkling  of 
rain  for  five  weeks. 

21 


162  THE    BOTANIST. 

hung  over  their  elegant  forms  and  resplendent  hues 
enraptured.  But  while  gazing  at  the  glories  of  the 
full  blown  flower,  and  contemplating  its  wondrous 
economy,  it  shrunk  from  the  intrusion,  and,  like  the 
hopes  of  man,  withered  on  the  stalk.  So  passeth 
away  the  splendour  of  this  world  ! 

During  this  dry  and  fervid  season  the  vegetable 
race  has  a  more  melancholy  aspect,  than  in  the  froz- 
en gloom  of  winter,  when  the  vegetative  ens  natu- 
rally retires  to  its  cradle,  hybernacula,  or  winter  quar- 
ters, and  is  resuscitated  by  the  next  vernal  sun.  But 
in  this  arid  and  adust  state  of  the  earth  and  the  air, 
every  annual  plant  is  threatened  with  speedy  de- 
struction :  For  want  of  the  cherishing  influence  of 
supernal  rain, 

Distressful  nature  pants. 
The  very  streams  look  languid  from  afar.     Thomson. 

To  the  laborious  husbandman,  the  gardener,  and 
the  botanist,  the  descent  of  rain  on  the  parched  soil 
and  thirsty  plants  is  the  most  grateful  phenomenon 
in  the  whole  enconomy  of  nature.  Let  us  put  by 
our  flowers  then,  for  the  present,  that  we  may  consid- 
er the  nature,  and  contemplate  the  source  of  this 
precious  fluid,  which  gives  health,  beauty  and  vig- 
our to  all  that  lives. 

WATER 

is  indeed  a  wondrous  element !  Well  might  the 
Grecian  sage*  contend,  that  water  was  the  original 

*  Thales. 


THE    BOTANIST.  163 

matter,  or  principle  of  all  things ;  and  that  even  the 
air  was  but  an  offspring,  expansion,  or  expiration  of 
water.  We  actually  find  that  water  bears  a  part  in 
the  formation  of  every  body  in  the  three  kingdoms 
of  nature.  It  enters  into  all  the  food  of  every  ani- 
mal, and  every  vegetable  in  creation.  It  is  neces- 
sary to  the' free  exercise  of  every  animal  function 
and  action  :  and  although  it  is  the  common  cement 
of  all  terrestrial  bodies,  it  nevertheless  hastens  and 
facilitates  the  requisite  dissolution  of  every  animal 
and  vegetable,  when  life  has  departed  ;  and  is  there- 
fore an  important  agent  in  that  never  ceasing  pro- 
cess of  mutation,  by  which  one  thing  is  changed 
out  of,  and  into  every  other  in  creation. 

Can  a  Naturalist  do  better,  at  this  dry  and  threat- 
ening season,  than  solicit  the  attention  of  his  young 
readers  of  both  sexes,  to  the  means  nature  uses  to 
provide  the  earth  with  rivers  of  water ;  beasts  with 
running  brooks  ;  plants  with  refreshing  showers;  and 
man  with  every  thing  ?  It  is  possible  that  they  may 
never  have  once  reflected  on  the  connexion  between 
the  sea  and  vegetation — between  the  mountains  and 
the  ocean — between  the  rivers  under  ground  and 
the  atmosphere  above  it.  They  may  never  have 
considered,  that  the  Atlantic  ocean  conspires  with 
our  loftiest  mountains  to  furnish  us  with  an  element 
indispensably  necessary  to  the  life,  to  the  health,  and 
to  the  beauty  of  plants,  as  well  as  of  men. 

The  clouds  dispensing  refreshing  showers,  "  turn- 
ing the  wilderness  into  a  standing  water,  and  the  dry 
ground  into  water  springs  ;"  the  flow  of  rivers,  with 


164  THE    BOTANIST. 

their  long  train  of  beneficial  consequences,  could 
hardly  escape  the  notice  of  any  thinking  being  in 
any  age  of  the  world.  We  accordingly  find  the 
supply  of  water  frequently  mentioned,  in  the  oldest 
book  we  have,  among  the  most  wonderful,  as  well 
as  valuable  of  Heaven's  blessings  ;  whilst  the  heathen 
world  imagined  every  river  to  be  under  the  guard- 
ianship of  some  particular  deity,  who  they  believed 
created  it,  because  they  knew  a  river  of  water  to  be 
of  more  than  mortal  formation. 

It  has  probably  impressed  others,  as  well  as  the 
writer  ;  with  something  bordering  on  wonder,  that 
during  seven  and  twenty  centuries,  wherein  the 
memory  and  learning  of  mankind  have  been  exercis- 
ed, there  has  not  been  found  one  philosopher  so  well 
instructed  in  the  laws  of  nature,  as  to  be  able  to  give 
a  complete  history  and  satisfactory  explanation  of 
the  ascent  of  freshwater  from  the  salt  ocean  ;  the 
suspension  of  vapours  in  the  air  ;  the  formation  of 
distinctly  defined  clouds  ;  and  the  descent  of  ?-ain> 
together  with  a  connected  chain  of  causes.  What 
facts  and  reasonings  we  have  on  these  subjects  are 
mere  fragments  widely  scattered.  If  Pythagoray 
taught,  as  Ovid  says, 

Unde  nives,  quae  fulminis  esset  origo  : 
Jupiter,  an  venti,  discussa  nube  tonarent, 

the  doctrine  has  never  come  down  to  us. 

Seeing  the  earth  covered  annually  with  a  rich  and 
beautiful  carpet  of  vegetables  ;  and  these  surprising- 
ly diversified,  variegated,  and  developing  between 
M  seed  time  and  harvest  time,"  must  have  led  those 


THE    BOTANIST.  165 

of  antient  days  to  recognize  the  proximate  cause, 
the  warmth  of  the  sun  and  the  moisture  from  the 
clouds  ;  and  these  again  to  that  perpetual  circulation 
subsisting  between  the  ocean  and  the  mountains, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  air,  and  by  the 
medium  of  rivers  to  the  ocean  again.  But  the  phi- 
losophy, or  explanation  of  this  vivifying  phenome- 
non is  spoken  of  as  something  past  finding  out. 
They  did  then,  as  we  do  now,  push  our  investiga- 
tions as  high  as  ever  we  can,  as  in  the  case  of  gravi- 
tation ;  and  beyond  that  principle  say  with  them,  it 
is  "  the  hand  of 'God '.•"  an  expression  denoting  only 
the  last  term  of  our  analytical  results.  Unable  to 
discover  the  essence  of  light  and  of  fire,  the  Deity 
was  called  by  the  name  of  these  inscrutable  agents. 
In  early  times,  when  the  knowledge  of  nature  was 
confined  to  narrow  limits,  they,  like  our  Indians, 

"  Saw  God  in  clouds,  and  heard  him  in  the  wind." 

Hence  they  styled  the  Deity,  "  the  father  of  the 
ra'.ns,"  and  represented  him,  as  "  calling  forth  the 
zvaters  of  the  sea,  and  pouring  them  down  according 
to  the  vapour  thereof."  Whence  we  infer  thev 
believed  that  the  water  rose,  in  form  of  vapour  from 
the  salt  ocean ;  and  that  it  became  freshened  in  its 
passage  through  the  air.  It  moreover  appears,  that 
they  believed  this  process  was  regularly  and  perpet- 
ually performing,  in  an  unceasing  circulation  ;  for 
thev  remarked  that,  although  "  all  the  rivers  run  in- 
to  the  sea,  yet  was  the  sea  not  full ;  unto  the  place 
whence  the  rivers  come,  thither  they  return  again." 


166  THE    BOTANIST. 

They  seem  also  to  have  known,  that  mountains  made 
a  part  of  this  grand  apparatus  ;  and  to  have  believed 
that  it  was  not  a  fortuitous  or  casual  operation  ;  but 
regulated  as  we  now  find  it,  by  weight  and  measure. 
May  not  this  be  inferred  from  the  sublime  question 
of  Isaiah — "  TVho  hath  measured  the  waters  in  the 
hollow  of  his  hand,  and  weighed  the  mountains  in 
scales  ?" 

The  people  of  antient  times  discerned  in  part  this 
magnificent  apparatus ;  and  saw  its  effects ;  but  were 
restrained  by  a  religious  awe,  from  attempting  the 
investigation  of  it;  because  storms,  lightning,  and  hail 
were  conceived  to  be  the  precursors  of  the  chariot  of 
the  Deity; — "  who  maketh  the  clouds  his  chariot — 
who  walketh  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,"  accompa- 
nied with  "hailstones"  and  "fire."  The  origin  and 
the  course  of  the  winds,  "  whence  they  come,  and 
whither  they  go,"  were  all,  for  these  reasons,  deem- 
ed mysterious.  Hence,  instead  of  scrutinizing  the 
cause,  their  pious  minds,  overwhelmed  with  awe, 
sunk  into  undiscerning  amazement.  Under  such 
solemn  impressions,  I  cease  to  wonder  that  he,  who 
wrote  that  antient  drama,  the  book  of  Job,  puts, 
among  the  most  difficult  of  his  questions,  that  which 
demands  an  explanation  of  "  the  balancing  of  the 
clouds." 

The  never-ceasing  circulation  of  water  between 
the  ocean  and  terra  firma  has,  it  seems,  been  con- 
templated from  the  earliest  ages  with  grateful  admi- 
ration ;  but  not  being  altogether  an  object  of  sight, 
was  ranked  among  the  inexplicable  works  of  Deity. 


THE    BOTANIST.  167 

Des  Cartes,  JViewentyte,  Halley,  and  a  few  others 
among  the  moderns,  have  amused  the  literary  pub- 
lic with  their  hypotheses :  But  of  their  learned  theo- 
ries, which  of  them  is  not  clogged  with  objections  ? 
That  all  the  rivers  of  fresh  water  are  derived  from 
the  salt  ocean,  no  one  doubts  ;  but  how  it  rises  from 
the  sea  is  the  question.  Some  contend,  that  the  par- 
ticles of  water  are  formed  into  hollow  spherules,  or 
diminutive  balloons,  which  being  lighter  than  com- 
mon air  ascend,  and  are  buoyant  in  it ;  and  that  they 
rise,  or  fall,  or  move  horizontally,  according  to  the 
impulse  given  by  attraction,  repulsion,  by  winds,  or 
by  electricity.  The  public  have  generally  acquiesced 
in  the  theory  of  Dr.  Halley  ;  as  they  commonly  do 
with  every  hypothesis  presented  them  in  the  impos- 
ing garb  of  "mathematics.  Dr.  Halley  took  a  ves- 
sel of  certain  dimensions,  filled  to  a  certain  depth 
with  water,  and  warmed  to  such  a  degree  as  the  air 
is  in  the  hottest  summer  months.  After  standing 
two  hours,  he  found,  on  weighing  it,  what  it  had  lost 
by  evaporation.  From  this  datum  he  proceeded  in 
his  calculations  ;  and  found  that  a  square  mile  yields 
six  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fourteen  tons,  and 
consequently  that  a  degree  square  will  evaporate 
about  thirty-three  million  of  tons.  He  calculated 
the  surface  of  the  Mediterranean ;  and  estimated 
that  it  must  lose  in  vapour  every  summer's  day  Jive 
t/musand  two  hundred  and  eighty  million  of  tons. 
Dr.  Halley  considers  a  certain  grade  of  heat  abso- 
lu'ely  necessary  to  the  ascent  of  vapours  from  the 
ocean  ;  but  we  find,  that  this  evaporation  goes  for- 


168  THE   BOTANIST. 

ward  with  equal  rapidity  in  the  coldest  weather,  nay 
in  caves  at  the  coldest  season,  in  the  frozen  regions 
of  the  north. 

Strange  !  what  extremes  should  thus  preserve  the  snow 
High  on  the  Alps,  or  in  deep  caves  below.     Waller. 

We  must  then  seek  some  other  cause  beside  heat ; 
and  the  chemico-philosophers  have  tried  to  soothe 
disputants  by  an  hypothesis  which  is  void  of  it. 
They  consider  that  the  air  is  a  menstruum,  capable  of 
dissolving,  suspending,  and  intimately  mixing  the 
particles  of  water  with  itself.  That  as  a  given  quantity 
of  water  will  take  up  just  so  much  salt  and  no  more, 
without  becoming  turbid,  and  at  length  precipitating 
it  to  the  bottom  ;  so  air,  the  most  powerful  solvent  in 
nature,  next  to  fire,  will  take  up,  intimately  mix,  and 
suspend,  just  so  much  water  and  remain  clear.  The 
mixture  will  continue  transparent,  just  this  side  sat- 
uration ;  when  saturated,  the  abundant  waters  float 
in  form  of  clouds  ;  but  when  supersaturated,  it  lets 
go  the  water,  which,  like  a  supersaturated  solution 
of  salt,  falls  from  the  clouds  on  the  earth  in  the  form 
of  rain. 

Is  the  probability  of  this  theory  diminished  by  the 
new  chemical  doctrine,  which  teaches  that  water  is 
formed  by  an  union  of  hydrogen  and  oxygen  ?  The 
pneumatic  chemists  have,  by  their  curious  discove- 
ries, removed  the  boundaries,  which  separated,  as 
we  once  thought,  air  from  water ;  and  have  led  us 
to  respect  that  very  antient  idea,  which  conceived 
them  to  be  one  element. 


THE    BOTANIST.  169 

The  salt  ocean,  which  covers  by  far  the  greatest 
part  of  this  globe,  has  a  three-fold  motion.  The  first 
is  gentle,  like  the  breathing  of  an  animal ;  by  it  the 
sea  swells  and  rises  tip  against  the  shores,  and  en- 
ters gradually  into  bays  and  mouths  of  rivers,  dur- 
ing the  space  of  six  hours.  Then  it  seems  to  rest 
for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  then  as  gradually  slides 
down  again  ;  when  after  another  pause  of  a  quarter 
of  an  hour,  it  begins  again  to  flow  as  before.  The 
second  motion  is  more  vehement  and  incessant,  and 
is,  like  that  of  the  heart,  circulatory  ;  whereas  that  of 
the  tides  is  merely  backward  and  forward.  It  comes 
in  the  course  of  the  trade  winds,  which  blow  ever- 
lastingly from  east  to  west ;  runs  past  the  West- In- 
dia islands ;  pours  into  the  bay  of  Mexico ;  and 
rushing  rapidly  out,  forms  the  gulf  of  Florida;  which 
sweeping  along  the  American  shore,  carries  the  wa- 
ters of  the  Atlantic  into  the  North  Sea  ;  whence  they 
pass  in  a  never-ceasing  circulation  around  the  globe. 

The  other  motion  is  from  the  atmosphere,  when 
agitated  by  winds.  It  is  local  and  variable  ;  and 
seems  subservient  to  the  transpiration  of  the  ocean. 
It  ruffles  the  surface  merely,  and,  from  this  superfi- 
cial agitation,  begins  that  hitherto  inexplicable  clis- 
tillatio  per  ascensum. 

By  whatever  means  the  w;'ter  ascends  the  air  from 
the  ocean,  this  is  briefly  the  course  of  it :  in  rising 
from  the  ocean  it  leaves  the  salt  behind,  as  in  the 
common  process  of  distillation.  The  ascended  va- 
pour is  probably  decomposed,  when  it  forms  clouds 


170  THE    BOTANIST. 

which  are  distinctly  visible  :  these  float  in  the  gen- 
eral  atmosphere,  which  appears  to  be  then  a  different 
fluid  from  these  circumscribed  clouds.  Antiquity 
conceived  a  cloud  to  be  a  congeries  of  watery  va- 
pour, a  conservatory,  in  which  the  rain  is  kept  as 
"  in  bottles.11*  As  clouds  become  fuller  of  water 
they  gravitate ;  or  are  attracted  by  the  loftiest  moun- 
tains, when  they  pour  upon  them  abundant  rains. 
But,  according  to  an  ingenious  chemist,t  there  are 
two  steps  of  the  process  between  evaporation  and 
rain ;  of  which  at  present  we  are  completely  igno- 
rant : 

1st.  What  becomes  of  the  vapour  after  it  enters 
into  the  atmosphere  ? 

2d.  What  makes  it  lay  aside  the  new  form,  which 
it  must  have  assumed >  and  return  again  to  its  state 
of  vapour,  and  fall  down  in  rain  ? 

And  till  these  two  steps  be  discovered  by  experi- 
ments and  observations,  it  will  be  impossible  for  us 
to  give  a  satisfactory,  or  a  useful  theory  of  rain. 
There  are  mountains  so  very  large,  that  even  pro- 
vinces are  found  embosomed  near  their  summits,  as 
those  of  Quito.  The  tops  of  such  mountains  are 
constantly  enveloped  with  clouds,  especially  during 
the  night ;  J  and  the  waters  are  constantly  dripping 
down  through  the  crannies  and  crevices  of  the 
stones,  forming  kindred  brooks  i  when  uniting  with 

*  See  Job.        |  Dr.  I.  Thompson. 

\  It  rains  perpetf  ally  among  the  Andes,  while  in  Egypt  seldom  or 

;iever. 


THE  BOTANIST.  171 

other  streams,  it  rushes  with  accelerated  force  to 
the  plains  below,  forcing  a  passage  through  every 
pliable  thing  in  its  way. 

Resistless,  roaring  dreadful,  down  it  comes, 

From  the  rude  mountains,  and  the  mossy  wild, 

Trembling  through  rocks  abrupt,  and  sounding  far  ; 

Then  o'er  the  sandy  valley  floating  spreads, 

Calm,  slug-gish,  silent ;  till  again  constraint 

Between  two  meeting  hills,  it  bursts  away 

Where  rocks  and  woods  o'erhang  the  turbid  stream, 

There  gathering  triple  force,  rapid  and  deep, 

It  boils  and  wheels,  and  foams  and  thunders  through  ; 

Till  pouring  on,  it  proudly  seeks  the  deep  ; 

Whose  vanquish'd  tide,  recoiling  from  the  shock, 
Yields  to  this  liquid  weight  of  half  the  globe.     Tiomjen. 

The  river,  after  rolling  its  waters  into  the  ocean, 
is  destined  to  be  again  exhaled  in  vapours  ;  and  to 
re-enter  afresh  the  channels  of  this  magnificent  cir- 
culation! 


THE   BOTANIST. 
N°.  XVI. 

f  Last  the  bright,  consummate  flower 
"  Spirits  odorous  breathes."     Milton. 

Once  more  we  hail  with  gratitude  the  returning 
spring!*  In  winter,  when  the  earth  is  bound  up 
with  ice,  and  covered  with  a  bed  of  snow  ;  when  the 
trees  are  divested  of  their  leaves ,  and  appear  dead ; 

*  April,  1808. 


172  THE    BOTANIST. 

and  the  very  herbage  seems  annihilated,  then  "  the 
lord  of  the  soil"  casts  his  eyes  over  the  barren  waste 
with  a  sigh.  As  his  reason  alone  could  not  lead  him 
to  believe,  that  the  tree  would  ever  again  blossom  ; 
or  the  earth  be  again  clothed  with  a  beautiful  carpet 
of  vegetables  ;  so  his  heart  sinks  within  him,  from  a 
fearful  apprehension,  that  the  Lord  of  all  is  un- 
mindful of  his  necessities.  This,  ye  Legislators  !  is 
the  period,  when  you  should,  in  imitation  of  the 
churches  of  Rome  and  of  England,  appoint  your 
days  of  humiliation  and  solemn  fasts :  for  it  is  at 
gloomy  season  that  man  ieels  his  dependency 
oi.  a  power  above  him.  But  when  the  sun  so  diffuses 
its  warmth  through  the  air,  as  to  loosen  the  flinty 
brook,  and  edge  it  with  green  ;  and  when  the  full 
bladed  grass  appears,  and  awakened  nature  sees  a 
new  creation,  then  the  husbandman  exclaims,  with 
exaltation,  "man  is  not  forgotten!  for  here 
and  there  are  pledges  of  an  adorable  reminescence? 
and  traits  of  a  wonderful  renovation  !"  Then  seize, 
Legislators  !  this  season  of  returning  spring  for  your 
National  Thanksgiving,  when  every  sense  and  every 
heart  is  joy.* 

*  Should  this  ever  be  read  bevond  the  boundaries  of  New-England,  it 
may  not  be  superfluous  to  add  here,  that  our  ancestors  instituted,  at  the 
firs;  settlement  of  Massachusetts,  a  Te  Deum,  or  day  of  public  thanksgiv- 
ing in  the*  autumn  ;  and  a  day  of  Fasting  and  Prayer  in  the  spring  of  everv 
year.  The  day  for  these  solemnities  is  appointed  by  the  Supreme  Exec- 
utive of  the  State,  whose  proclamation,  in  this  case,  has  the  effect  of  an 
Archbishop's  circular.  The  idea  here  suggested  is,  that  the  Thanksgiving 
would  be  celebrated  with  more  fervour  at  that  season,  when  "  awaken- 
?d  nature  sees  a  new  creation." 


THE    BOTANIST. 
If  in  winter  the  husbandman 

"  Marks  not  the  mighty  hand 

"  That,  ever  busy,  wheels  (he  silent  spheres;"' 

he  cannot  miss  it  in 

"The  fair  profusion  that  o'erspreads  the  spring." 

The  poets  have  conveyed  their  idea  of  spring,  by 
describing  this  genial  season  as  a  youth  of  most 
beautiful  air  and  shape,  with  a  blooming  counte- 
nance, expressive  of  satisfaction  and  joy  ;  and  cloth- 
ed in  a  flowing  mantle  of  green,  interwoven  with 
flowers  ;  a  chaplet  of  roses  on  his  head,  a  narcissus 
in  his  hand,  while  primroses  and  violets  spring  up 
under  his  feet.*  The  ornament  and  pride  of  spring, 
Milton's  "  bright,  consummate  flower"  must  there- 
fore be  the  theme  of  our  present  number. 

Every  one  may  think  that  he  knows  precisely 
what  is  a  flower :  it  is  however  remarkable,  that  bot- 
anists have  been  not  a  little  puzzled  in  fixing  their 
definition  of  it.  The  celebrated  French  botanist 
Tournefort,  tells  us,  that  "  a  flower  is  a  part  of  a 
plant,  very  often  remarkable  for  its  peculiar  colours, 
for  the  most  part,  adhering  to  the  young  fruit,  to 
which  it  seems  to  afford  the  first  nourishment,  in 
order  to  explicate  its  most  tender  parts."  Is  this  a 
definition  "?  Pontedra,  in  his  Anthology,  tells  us  that 
"  a  flower  is  a  part  of  a  plant  unlike  the  rest  in  form 
and  nature."     Jussieu  says  that  "  that  is  properly  a 

*  The  poets  have  described  Spring,  accompanied  by  Flora  on  one  hand, 
and  Vertumnus  on  the  other ;  and  immediately  followed  by  a  stern  fig- 
ure, in  shining  armour  :  this  is  Mars,  who,  they  say,  has  long  usurped  a 
place  among  the  attendants  of  Spring. 


17>  THE    BOTANIST. 

flower,  which  is  composed  of  stamina  and  of  a  pis- 
tillum."  But  some  flowers  have  no  pistillum.  Vail- 
lant  advanced  one  step  beyond  his  predecessors,  and 
asserts  that  "  the  flower  ought,  strictly  speaking,  to 
be  reckoned  the  organs,  which  constitute  the  dif-k 
ferent  sexes  in  plants :  for  that  the  petals,  which  im- 
mediately envelope  them,  are  only  the  coats  to  cov- 
er and  defend  them  ;"  but  he  adds,  "  these  coats  are 
the  most  conspicuous,  and  most  beautiful  parts  of 
the  composition  ;  and  therefore  to  these,  according 
to  the  common  idea,  shall  I  give  the  name  of  flow- 
er.' '  Marty n  went  a  little  farther,  and  defined  "  a 
flower  to  be  the  organs  of  generation  of  both  sexes, 
adhering  to  a  common  placenta,  together  with  their 
common  coverings."  Nay,  if  we  consult  Johnson's 
Dictionary  for  a  definition,  we  shall  find  that  "  a 
flower  is  that  part  of  a  plant  which  contains  the 
seeds,"  which  definition  is  more  applicable  to  a  pea- 
pod.  The  early  botanists  meant  by  the  term  anthos, 
flos,  or  flower,  what  is  now  understood  in  common 
conversation  by  that  term,  namely,  the  rich  and  del- 
icate painted  leaves  or  petals,  which  adhere  to 
the  seed  vessel,  or  rudiment  of  the  future  fruit. 
In  truth  botany  was  unknown  to  the  antients  as  a 
science.  They  had  no  distinct  term  to  express  the 
petals  of  a  flower,  so  as  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
green  leaves  of  the  plant.  Virgil,  in  describing  his 
amellusy  which  is  a  species  of  aster ;  the  flower  of 
which  has  a  yellow  disk  and  purple  rays,  calls  it 
a  golden  flower  surrounded  with  purple  leaves.    All 


THE    BOTANIST.  175 

his  translators,  excepting  Martyn,  the  botanist,  have 
mistaken  his  description, 

a  Aureus  ipse  [flos]  sed  in  foliis,  quse  plurima  circum 

"  Funduntur,  viol*  sublucet  purpura  nigra."     Georg.  IV. 

Addison  makes  the  leaves  of  the  plant  purple 
Dryden  makes  the  bough  purple  ;  and  Trapp  gives 
the  stem  a  golden  hue.  All  this  confusion  has  arisen 
for  want  of  a  word  in  the  Latin  language  to  express 
the  petals  of  the  corolla,  as  distinct  from  the  com- 
mon leaves  of  the  plant.  Modern  botanists  have 
borrowed  the  word  ttitclkm  from  the  Greek  to  express 
the  beautiful  rich  leaves  of  the  flower  merely ;  and 
thus  they  avoid  all  ambiguity  in  description.*  We 
make  no  apology  for  this  dry  discussion.  Our  aim 
is  perspicuity  rather  than  elegance.  We  wish  to 
give  the  student  of  nature  a  less  confused  idea  of  a 
flower  than  he  commonly  finds  in  books  of  botany  j 
and  we  hope  we  shall  give  him  a  distinct  idea  of  the 
beautiful,  but  complicated  thing  before  us. 

Since  the  adoption  of  the  sexual  system,  the  pe- 
tals, which  excite  the  admiration  of  the  florist,  are 
considered  by  the  botanist,  as  coverings  only  to  the 
essential  parts  of  the  flower.  A  flower  therefore,  in 
modern  botany,  differs  from  the  same  term  in  form- 
er writers ;  and  from  the  common  acceptation  of  it ; 
for  the  calyx,  the  petals,  nay,  the  filaments  of  the 
stamina  may  all  be  wanting ;  and  yet  it  is  a  flower, 
provided  the  anthers  and  stigma  can  be  traced.  The 
essence  of  a  flower  then  consists  in  the  anthera  and 

r  See  Lee'»  Botany,  p.  4. 


i"6  THE    BOTANIST. 

the  stigma ;  and  they  constitute  a  flower,  whether 
they  be  supported  by  a  calyx,  or  surrounded  by  a 
petal,  or  petals,  forming  that  chaplet,  coronet,  or 
little  crown  denominated  in  Latin,  corolla.  A  pa- 
tient observer  may  find  these  nice  distinctions  illus- 
trated in  ferns,  mosses,  mushrooms,  linchens  and 
sea-weeds. 

Let  us  now  examine  a  complete  or  perfect  flow- 
er :  and  let  us  first  look  at 

The  Calyx  ;  which  originally  meant  the  green 
bottom  of  a  rose  bud  ;  but  it  is  now  extended  to 
that  green  flower  cup,  which  is  generally  composed 
of  five  small  leaves  ;  and  which  incloses,  sustains 
and  embraces  the  corolla,  or  painted  petals,  at  the 
bottom  of  every  flower,  and  indeed  envelops  it  en- 
tirely before  it  opens,  as  in  the  rose.  The  calyx 
which  accompanies  almost  all  other  flowers,  is  want- 
ing in  the  tulip,  the  hyacinth,  the  narcissus  ,  and  in- 
deed the  greater  part  of  the  liliaceous  tribe.  The  ad- 
mirably accurate  Grew  called  this  part  of  the  flow- 
er the  empalement ;  and  defines  it  to  be  the  outermost 
part  of  the  flower,  encompassing  the  other  two, 
namely,  the  corolla,  or  what  Grew  called  the  folia- 
ture  ;  and  the  stamina  and  pistillum,  which  he  called 
the  attire. 

The  terms  perianthum,  involucrum,  anient  hum, 
spatha,  gluma,  cahjptra  and  volva,  are  but  different 
appellations  of  the  varied  calyx.  Linnaeus  teils 
us,  that  the  calyx  is  the  termination  of  die  cortical 
epidermis,  or  outer  bark  of  the  plant ;  which,  alter 
accompanying  the  trunk  or  stem   through  all   its 


THE    BOTANIST.  177 

branches,  breaks  out  at  the  bottom  of  the  flower,  in 
the  form  of  the  flower  cup.  In  the  sexual  system, 
or,  as  some  will  have  it,  the  allegory  of  the  illustri- 
ous Swede,  the  calyx  is  rarely  one  entire  piece  ;  but 
of  several,  one  laid  over  the  other.  This  structure 
serves  to  keep  the  whole  flower  or  composition  tight, 
and  at  the  same  time,  allows  it  to  recede,  as  the  parts 
of  fructification  increase  in  size  :  it  is  like  slacken- 
ing the  laces  of  the  stays,  stomachers  or  bodices, 
in  cases  and  circumstances  not  entirely  dissimilar. 
Flowers  standing  on  a  firm  basis,  as  tulips,  have  no 
calyx  ;  but  where  the  foot  of  each  petal  is  long, 
slender,  and  numerous,  as  in  pinks,  they  are  kept 
within  compass  by  a  double  calyx.  In  a  few  in- 
stances, the  calyx  is  tinctured  with  a  different  colour 
than  green  ;  and  then  it  is  not  easy  to  distinguish  the 
painted  calyx  from  the  painted  corolla.  Linnaeus 
however  gives  this  simple  rule  ;  the  corolla,  in  point 
of  situation,  is  ranged  alternately  wiih  the  stamina  ; 
whereas,  the  segment  of  the  calyx  stands  opposite  to 
to  the  stamina.     Thus  much  for  the  calyx. 

The  Corolla  is  the  circle  of  beautiful  coloured 
leaves,  which  stands  within  the  calyx,  forming  a 
chaplet,  composed  of  a  petal  or  petals ;  for  so  we 
call  those  delicately  painted  leaves,  which  excel  in 
beauty  every  other  part  of  the  plant.  In  the  piony, 
the  petals  are  blood  red ;  in  our  gard  n  lily,  a  rich 
and  delicate  white  ;  and  in  tulips  and  violets,  charm- 
ingly variegated.  The  number  of  petals  in  a  flower 
is  to  be  reckoned  from  the  base  of  the  corolla;  and 
23 


178  THE    BOTANIST. 

the  number  of  the  segments  from  the  middle  of  it. 
If  the  petals  are  quite  distinct  at  the  bottom,  the 
flower  is  said  to  be  polypetalous,  or  to  consist  of 
more  petals  than  one  ;  but  if  the  petals  are  united  at 
bottom,  though  ever  so  slightly,  then  the  flower  is 
monopetalous,  or  consisting  of  one  petal  only  ;  thus 
the  cranberry  is  monopetalous,  and  not  tretapetalous, 
because,  though  the  petals  fall  off  in  four  distinct 
parts,  they  were  originally  united  at  the  base.*  A 
bell-shaped  flower  consists  of  one  petal,  and  is  de- 
nominated corolla  ca?npanulata,  and  a  funnel-shaped 
flower,  corolla  infundibuliformis ;  a  gaping  flower 
corolla  ring  en  s  ;  but  the  corolla  cruciformis  con- 
sists of  four  petals ;  and  the  butterfly  shaped  flow- 
er, or  corolla  papilionacea,  consists  of  five  petals,  as 
in  the  pea  blossom.  The  number  Jive  is  most  re- 
markably predominant  in  the  petals  of  flowers. 

There  are,  moreover,  irregular  flowers,  consisting 
of  dissimilar  parts,  which  are  generally  accompa- 
nied with  a  nectarium,  as  in  the  larkspur.  The  nec- 
tarium,  so  called  from  nectar,  the  fabled  drink  of 
the  gods,  is  that  part  or  appendage  of  the  petals,  ap- 
propriated for  containing,  if  not  secreting,  the  honey, 
whence  it  is  taken  by  the  bees.  All  flowers  are  not 
provided  with  this  receptacle  for  honey,  although  it 
is  probable  that  every  flower  has  a  honey-secreting 
gland.  The  irregularity  of  the  form  and  position 
of  this  receptacle  frequently  puzzles  young  botanists. 
Sometimes  the  nectarium  makes  part  of  the  calyx  ; 

*  Philosoph.  Botan.  Linnsei. 


THE    BOTANIST.  179 

sometimes  it  is  fixed  in  the  common  base,  or  recep- 
tacle of  the  plant.  Plants  in  which  the  nectaria  are 
distinct  from  the  petals,  that  is,  not  lodged  within 
their  substance,  are  generally  poisonous.*  If  the 
nectarium  do  not  exist  as  a  distinct  visible  part,  it 
probably  exists  as  a  pore  or  pores  in  every  plant.f 
It  may  hereafter  be  demonstrated,  that  this  secreto- 
ry apparatus  is  primarily  necessary  to  the  fructifi- 
cation of  the  plant  itself.  Rousseau  says,  that  the 
nectaria  are  one  of  those  instruments  destined  by  na- 
ture to  unite  the  vegetable  to  the  animal  kingdom ; 
and  to  make  them  circulate  from  one  to  another. 
A  flower  and  an  insect  have  great  resemblance  to 
each  other.  An  insect  is  nourished  by  honey.  May 
it  not  be  needful  that  the  flower,  during  the  process 
of  fructification,  should  be  nourished  by  honey  from 
the  nectaries  ?  Sugar  is  formed  in  the  joints  of  the 
canes,  for,  perhaps,  a  similar  purpose. 


THE    STAMINA,   AND  THE   PISTILLA. 

Within  the  corolla  stands,  what  Grew  called  the 
attire;  but  what  are  now  called  the  stamens  and 
pistils,  which  in  the  sexual  system,  and  Linnasan 
hypothesis  of  generation,  are  the  most  important  or- 
gans of  a  plant ;  for  on  the  number  and  respective 

*  Philosoph.  Botan. 

f  All  the  grasses  have  nectaries.     In  the  Passion  flower,  it  is  a  triple 
crown  or  glory. 


180  THE   BOTANIST. 

position  of  the  stamens   and  pistils,  that  prince  of 
botanists  has  founded  his  famous  sexual  system. 

The  stamina  are  filaments  or  threads  issuing  from 
about  the  middle  of  the  flower.  Each  stamen  or 
thread  is  surmounted  by  a  prominence  or  button, 
containing  a  fine  powder.  This  protuberance  is 
called  the  anthera ;  which  is  a  capsule  with  one,  two, 
or  more  cavities.*  The  summit  of  each  stamina 
is  called  by  way  of  pre-eminence,  anthera,  or  flow- 
er. It  contains  the  pollen,  which  term  means  in 
Latin  the  very  fine  dust  in  a  mill.  Some  conceive 
this  dust  to  be  infinitessimally  small  eggs  or  seeds, 
or  rather  organic  particles,  or  molecules  ;  others  com- 
pare it  to  the  seminal  fluid  in  animals.  This  pol- 
len, or  fecundating  powder  is  very  conspicuous  in  the 
tall,  white  garden  lily.  This  powder  is  collected  by 
the  bees  ;  and  is  formed  by  some  secret  process  in 
their  bodies  into  wax  ;  which  is  a  singular  species 
of  vegetable  oil,  rendered  concrete  by  a  peculiar 
acid  in  the  insect. 

The  pistillum,  which  is  the  Latin  word  for  a  pes- 
tle, stands  in  the  centre  of  the  flower  ;  this  term  has 
been  adopted,  from  the  fancied  resemblance  of  a 
pestle  in  a  mortar.  It  is  placed  on  the  germen,  or 
seed  bud  ;  its  summit  is  called  stigma,  and  in  many 
flowers  resembles  that  bone  of  the  arm,  denominat- 
ed the  o.?  humeri ;  but  its  form  varies  in  different 
kinds  of  flowers.     The  surface  of  the  stigma  is  cov- 

*  See  Grew's  graphic  descriptions,  from  plate  55  to  64  inclusive,  where 
these  capsules,  with  their  pollen  are  finely  delineated. 


THE    BOTANIST.  181 

ered  with  a  glutinous  matter,  to  which  the  fecunda- 
ting powder  of  the  anthera  adheres. 

The  germen  is  then  the  base  of  the  pistillum, 
and  contains  the  rudiments  of  the  seed ;  which  in 
the  process  of  vegetation  swells  and  becomes  the 
seed  vessels.  It  answers  to  the  ovarium,  or  rather 
uterine  apparatus  of  animal's.  The  pericarpium  is 
the  germen  grown  to  maturity  ;  or  the  plant  big  with 
seed. 

The  receptacle  is  the  base,  which  connects  the  be- 
fore mentioned  parts  together. 

Fructification  is  a  very  significant  term  :  it  is  de- 
rived from  Jructus,  fruit ;  and  facio,  to  make  :  we 
are  not  entirely  satisfied  with  the  definition,  which 
our  great  master  has  given  of  this  compound  word  : 
he  says,  it  is  a  temporary  part  of  plants  appropriated 
to  generation,  terminating  the  old  vegetable,  and  be- 
ginning the  new.  We  have  just  described  the  sev- 
en parts  of  fructification  ;  when  recapitulated,  they 
are  in  order,  as  follows : 

I.  The  Calyx. 
II.  The  Corolla. 

III.  The  Stamina. 

IV.  The  Pistillum. 

V.  The  Germen,  or  Pericarpium. 
VI.  The  Seed  ;  and 
VII,  The  Receptacle. 


182  THE   BOTANIST. 

Having  described  the  seven  several  component 
parts  of  that  beautiful  offspring  of  a  plant,  denomi- 
nated a  flower,  we  have  now  leisure  to  make  a  few 
remarks  on  the  whole  composition. 

We  cannot  readily  believe,  with  most  botanists, 
that  the  petals,  or  to  take  them  collectively,  the  co- 
rolla, have  no  other  use  in  the  vegetable  economy, 
than  merely  to  cover  and  guard  the  sexual  organs. 
It  militates  against  one  of  the  most  conspicuous 
laws  of  nature,  where  we  never  see  a  complicated 
contrivance,  for  a  simple  end  or  purpose ;  but  al- 
ways the  reverse.  There  is  a  pulmonary,  or  breath- 
ing system  in  every  vegetable.  An  artery  belongs 
to  each  portion  of  the  corolla ;  which  conveys  the 
vegetable  blood  to  the  extremities  of  the  petal,  there 
exposing  it  to  the  light  and  to  the  air,  under  a  deli- 
cate membrane ;  which  covers  the  internal  surface 
of  the  petal;  where  it  often  changes  its  colour,  and 
is  seen  beautifully  in  party-coloured  tulips  and  pop- 
pies.* The  vegetable  blood  is  collected  at  the  ex- 
tremities of,  what  Darwin  calls,  the  coral  arteries, 
and  is  returned  by  correspondent  veins,  exactly  as 
he  describes  it  in  the  green  foliage. 

It  is  presumed,  that  this  breathing,  and  circulat- 
ing structure,  has  for  its  end,  the  sustenance  of  the 
anthers  and  stigma ;  as  well  as  for  the  elaboration  of 
honey,  wax  and  essential  oil ;  and  for  perfecting  the 
prolific  powder.     The  poetical  author  of  the  Botanic 

*  See  Darwin's  Phytologia. 


THE    BOTANIST.  183 

Garden  imagines,  that  as  the  glands  which  se- 
crete the  honey,  and  perfect  the  pollen,  and  pre- 
pare and  exalt  the  odoriferous  essential  oil,  are  at- 
tached to  the  petals,  and  always  fall  off  and  perish 
with  them,  it  is  an  evidence  that  the  vegetable  blood  is 
elaborated,  and  oxygenated  in  this  pulmonary  sys- 
tem of  the  flower,  for  the  express  purpose  of  these 
important  secretions.  I  leave  to  the  philosophic 
botanist  to  determine,  whether  there  be  more  of 
hypothesis  than  demonstration  in  this  assertion. 
We  should,  however,  bear  in  mind  this  fact,  that  as 
the  green  leaves  constitute  the  organs  of  respiration 
to  the  leaf-buds,  so  the  bractes  perform  the  same  of- 
fice to  the  flower  buds. 

Assuredly  there  are  few  things  in  nature,  that  de- 
light the  eye  and  regale  the  smell,  like,  what  Mil- 
ton calls,  "  the  bright,  consummate  flower."  Some 
of  them  far  exceed  the  finest  feathers,  the  most  bril- 
liant shells  ;  or  the  most  precious  stones,  or  costly 
diamonds.  This  appears  to  have  been  the  judg- 
ment of  the  learned  and  tasteful,  in  all  ages.  The 
term  jioivcr  has  been  always  used  to  express  the 
most  excellent  and  valuable  part  of  a  thing;  it  is 
synonymous  with  embellishment,  or  ornament ;  it  is 
used  to  express  the  prime,  acme  or  perfection  of  an 
individual  in  the  animal  kingdom  ;  as  well  as  the 
most  distinguished  and  most  valuable  mental  ac- 
quirement ;  as  the  flower  of  the  family,  the  flower 
of  the  army,  the  flower  of  chivalry.  To  say,  that 
"  he  cropt  the  flowers  of  every  virtue,"  is  to  express 
all  that  can  be  conceived  of  human  perfection. 


18*  THE    BOTANIST. 

By  the  expressive  term  of  fructification ,*  botan- 
ists mean,  not  only  the  evanescent  flower,  but  the 
green*  or  imperfect  fruit ;  for  they  cannot  well  be 
separated  ;  as  a  growing  plant  like  a  living  animal, 
remains  not  a  moment  the  same  ;  but  is  continually 
changing :  hence  fructification  is  defined  by  Lin- 
naeus to  be  a  temporary  part  of  plants,  terminating 
the  old  vegetable,  and  beginning  the  new.  The  per- 
fection of  the  vegetable  consists  in  its  fructification  ; 
the  essence  of  the  fructification  consists  in  the  flow- 
er and  fruit ;  the  essence  of  the  flower  consists  in 
the  antherae  and  stigma  ;  and  the  essence  of  the  fruit 
consists  in  the  seed ;  and  the  essence  of  the  seed 
consists  in  the  corculum,  which  is  fastened  to  the 
cotyledon;  and  the  essence  of  the  corculum  con- 
sists in  the  plumula,  in  which  is  the  punctum  vita 
of  the  plant  itself ;  very  minute  in  its  dimensions ; 
but  capable,  by  the  combination  of  intrinsic  caloric, 
with  its  innate  oxygen,  of  increasing  like  a  bud,  to 
infinity. 

From  this  view  of  the  produce  of  fructification, 
the  disciples  of  Linnaeus  have  learnt  the  following 
principles ; 

1st.  That  eveiy  vegetable  is  furnished  with  flow- 
er and  fruit  ;  there  being  no  species  where  these 
are  wanting. 

2d.  That  there  is  no  fructification  without  an- 
thera,  stigma,  and  seed. 

•  Fructification  comprehends  the  nvw  state  of  the  flower,  and  the/utw 
turitim  of  the  fruit. 


THE    BOTANIST.  185 

3d.  That  the  anthers,  and  stigma  constitute  a 
a  flower,  whether  the  petals  or  corolla  be  present  or 
or  not. 

4th.  That  the  seed  constitutes  a  fruit,  whether 
there  be  a  pericarpium  or  not.* 

Linnreus's  theory  of  fructification  is  this  :  he  sup- 
poses, that  the  medullary  part  of  a  plant,  that  is  to 
say,  the  pith,  must  be  joined  with  the  external,  or 
cortical  part,  for  the  purpose  of  producing  a  new 
one.     If  the  medulla  be   so  vigorous  as  to   burst 
through  its  containing  vessels,  and  thus  mix  with 
the  cortical  part,  a  bud  is  produced,  either  on  the 
branches  or  the  roots  of  vegetables  ;  otherwise  the 
medulla  is  extended  till  it  terminates  in  the  pistil- 
lum,  or  female  part  of  the  flower ;  and  the  cortical 
part  is  likewise   elongated,  till  it  terminates  in  the 
antherse,  or  male  part  of  the  flower ;  and  then  the 
fecundating  dust,  from   the  latter,  being  joined  to 
the  prolific  juices  of  the  former,  produces  the  seeds, 
or  new  plants ;  at  the  same  time,  the  inner  rind  is 
extended  into  the  petals  or  corolla ;  and  the  outer 
bark  into  the  calyx. f     This  view  of  a  plant  will  il- 
lustrate the  assertion  in  a  former  number,  that  the 
seven  essential  parts,   discoverable  in  the  section  of 
a  trunk  of  a  tree,  may  be  discerned  in  its  blossom. 

Plants,  more  especially,  "the  bright,  consummate 
flower,  spirits  odo?'ous     breathe.''''     On  what   does 

*  See  Lee's  epitome  of  the  works  of  I.innsEus.  Chap.  ix. 
\  See  Darwin,  p.  83. 

24 


186  THE    BOTANIST. 

this  agreeable  odour  depend  ?  The  chemists  say 
on  the  oil ;  but  this  is  not  going  far  enough.  The 
agitation  of  this  matter  must  be  postponed  to  next 
month. 


THE   BOTANIST. 

N°.  XVII. 

In  our  sketch  of  the  History  of  Botany,  we  spoke 
of  that  par  nobile  Jratrum,  John  and  Caspar  Bauhin. 
We  said  that  each  of  these  indefatigable  men  under- 
took  an  universal  history  of  plants  ;  with  a  synony- 
my, or  exact  list  of  the  names  that  every  plant  bore 
in  all  the  writers  which  preceded  them.  Their 
works,  which  are  examples  of  vast  knowledge  and 
solid  labours,  are  still  the  guide  to  all  those  who 
wish  to  consult  antient  authors  on  botany.  After 
their  death,  which  happened  between  the  years  1624, 
and  1630  scarcely  any  author  wrote  on  medicine, 
but  wrote  more  or  less  on  botany. 

Hyeeronymus  Bouc,  a  German,  was  the  first  of 
the  moderns  who  has  given  a  methodical  distribu- 
tion of  vegetables.  In  his  history  of  plants,  pub- 
lished in  1532,  he  divides  the  eight  hundred  species 
there  described  into  three  classes,  founded  on  their 
qualities,  habit,  figure  and  size.  Clusius  endeavour- 
ed soon  after  to  establish  the  natural  distinction  of 


THE    BOTANIST.  187 

Theophrastus,  which  was  into  trees,  shrubs,  and 
undershrubs.  Others  attempted  to  characterize 
plants  by  the  roots,  stems,  and  leaves,  but  all  were 
found  insufficient.  It  was  thirty  years  from  this 
time,  that  Gesner  suggested  the  first  idea  of  a  sys- 
tem founded  on  the  flower  and  fruit.  But  the  ap- 
plication of  this  suggestion  was  not  made  until  twen- 
ty years  afterwards  by  Casalpinus,  a  physician,  and 
professor  of  botany  at  Padua.  Yet  this  system  of 
Csesalpinus,  founded  on  scientific  principles,  perish- 
ed, or  rather  slept  for  nearly  a  century,  when  it  was 
awakened  by  Dr.  Morison  of  Aberdeen.  The  next 
systematical  arrangement  of  plants  was  given  by  the 
learned  and  pious  Mr.  Ray.  His  general  history  of 
plants  contains  eighteen  thousand  six  hundred  and 
fifty-five  species  and  varieties.  He  allows  one  di- 
vision to  such  plants  as  grow  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea;  or  upon  rocks  that  are  surrounded  by  that 
element ;  but  naturalists  have  now  removed  these 
from  the  vegetable  to  the  animal  kingdom.  Then 
Herman  of  Leyden  published  his  systematic  ar- 
rangement ;  and  soon  after  the  famous  Boerhaave 
favoured  the  public  with  his  plan.  About  this  time, 
or  a  little  anterior,  viz.  the  year  1700,  the  celebrated 
Tournefort  came  forth  with  his  learned  and  exten- 
sive botanical  system ;  then  Knaut,  Ludwig,  Pon- 
tedra  and  Magnolias.  It  appears  that  Csesalpinus 
followed  Gesner ;  Morison  Cassalpinus ;  Ray  im- 
proved upon  Morison  ;  Knaut  abridged  Ray  ;  Her- 
man formed  himself  partly  on  Morison,  and  partly 
;Gn  Ray,  while  Boerhaave  took  the  indefatigable  Her» 


188  THE    BOTANIST. 

nnn  for  his  guide.  But  it  was  Tournefort  of  France 
who  surpassed  all  his  predecessors  in  supplying 
a  clue  to  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Intricate  as  is  this 
system,  it  was  the  most  complete  the  world  had  ev- 
er seen.  The  French  nation  were  proud  of  it ;  and 
gloried  in  giving  an  everlasting  botanical  system  to 
an  admiring  world.  Yet  Tournefort  did  but  clear 
the  way  for  one  still  greater  than  himself;  for  in  the 
year  1755  arose  the  sun  of  the  botanical  world,  Lin- 
naeus ;  of  whose  system  we  can  give  here  only  a 
mere  sketch  or  outline. 

Excepting  Aristotle,  the  antient  writers  on  Natu- 
ral History  had  no  systematical  arrangement ;  but 
described  plants  and  animals  as  they  came  to  hand. 
The  boundaries  of  natural  history  have  been  so  en- 
larged by  modern  enterprize  and  industry,  that  it 
has  become  necessary  to  class  and  sort  this  vast  mul- 
titude, or  the  student  of  nature  would  be  lost  in  the 
exuberance  before  him.     It  is  natural  enough,  says 
that  pleasant  writer  Goldsmith,  for  ignorance  to  lie 
down  in  hopeless  uncertainty  ;   and  to  declare,  that 
to  particularize  each  body    is  utterly  impossible  ; 
but  it  is  otherwise  with  the  active,  searching  mind  : 
no  way   intimidated   with    the     immense    variety* 
it  begins   the   task  of    numbering,    grouping  and 
classing  all  the  various  kinds  that  fall  within  its  no- 
tice ;  finds  every  day  new  relations  between  the  sev- 
eral parts  of  creation,  acquires  the  art  of  considering 
several  at  a  time  under  one  point  of  view ;  and  at  last 
begins  to  find  that  the  variety  is  neither  so  great. 


THE    BOTANIST.  189 

nor  so  inscrutable  as  was  first  imagined.*  It  is  a 
difficult  task  to  find  out  a  particular  man  in  an  im- 
mense crowd,  or  mob  of  people  ;  but  if  this  promis- 
cuous jumble  of  people  be  systematized,  or  arrang- 
ed into  brigades,  regiments,  companies,  and  pla- 
toons, we  sh-ill  be  able  to  find  the  individual  with- 
out much  difficulty.  It  is  thus  in  a  systemati- 
cal arrangement  of  vegetables.  Bonnet  has,  in  a 
great  measure,  disregarded  system  ;  and  Buffon  has 
treated  it  with  contempt.  But  the  eloquent  author 
of  the  "  History  of  the  Earth  and  Animated  Nature" 
justly  remarks,  that  books  are  written  with  opposite 
views ;  some  only  to  be  read  ;  and  some  only  to  be 
occasionally  consulted;  that  the  methodists  have 
sacrificed  to  order  alone  all  the  delights  of  the  sub- 
ject, all  the  acts  of  heightening,  awakening,  or  con- 
tinuing curiosity.  But  he  adds,  that  systematical 
arrangements  "have  the  same  use  in  science  that  a 
dictionary  has  in  language  ;  but  with  this  difference, 
that  in  a  dictionary  we  proceed  from  the  name  to 
the  definition  ;  in  a  system  of  natural  history  we 
proceed  from  the  definition  to  find  out  the  thing. 
Without  the  aid  of  system,  Nature  must  still  have 
lain  undistinguished,  like  furniture  in  a  lumber- 
room  ;  every  thing  we  wish  for  is  there  indeed  ;  but 
we  know  not  where  to  find  it." 

The  Botanist  will  not  conceal  that  he  attempted, 
some  years  ago,  what  some  perhaps  would  call  an  he- 
retical innovation  against  the  Linnasan  creed.     It  has 

•  See  History  of  the  Earth  and  Animated  Nature,  Vol,  2.  Chap,  xvi, 


190  THE    BOTANIST. 

however  served,  like  every  other  heresy,  to  fix  more 
firmly  the  true  doctrine.  When  he  commenced 
these  monthly  essays,  botany  was  scarcely  known  in 
our  commonwealth.  While  he  endeavoured  to  at- 
tract the  attention  of  the  youth  of  both  sexes  to  this 
subject,  he  hoped  to  remove  the  objection,  often 
urged  by  parents,  against  the  Linnaean  doctrine  and 
phraseology.  In  fewer  words ;  he  hoped  he  could 
drop  the  Linnaean  metaphor  of  generation  ;  and 
substitute  that  of  nutrition,  and  thereby  obviate  the 
objection  just  mentioned.  In  his  first  essay,  his 
plan  appeared  plausible,  and  his  progress  pleasant. 
But  as  he  went  on,  he  found  himself  more  and  more 
encumbered  with  unmanageable  and  awkward  ma- 
terials. The  Botanist  knows  no  other  distinguish- 
ing mark  which  divides  the  animal  from  the  veg- 
etable, than  that  the  one  has  a  stomach  for  receiv- 
ing and  digesting  its  food ;  and  the  other  has 
none.  But  then,  he  found  that  his  meditated  inno- 
vation would  trespass  against  a  law  which  he  had 
acknowledged. — To  be  more  explicit — He  commu- 
nicated his  delicate  plan  to  a  sensible  friend ; — 
whether  une  sage  Jemme,  or  une  femme  sage,  im- 
ports not.  The  answer  determined  its  fate.  "  You 
"  will  be  laughed  at.  If  you  refine  too  much,  you 
•"  will  create  in  young  people,  the  very  evil  you  ap- 
"  prehend.  Remember  Rosseau's  comment  on  the 
"  fox,  the  crow,  and  the  cheese.  What  you  call  the 
"  the  objectionable  part  of  botany  is  the  principal 
"  stimulus  to  its  study.  Divest  it  of  that  charm, 
i(  and  you  will  diminish  the  number  of  its  admirers 


THE    BOTANIST.  191 

"  among  the  men.     Then  burn  your  nonsense,  and 
M  glorify  Linnaeus." 

The  opinion  of  Sir  Joseph  Banks  had  no  small 
influence  in  diverting  the  Botanist  from  his  project 
for  while  under  the  influence  of  it,  he  had  written  to 
that  celebrated  Naturalist.  He  in  answer  says  : — 
"  How  can  you  and  I  correspond  about  a  plant,  which 
"  you  may  have  found  in  America,  or  I  in  Europe, 
"  and  is  known  but  to  one  of  usr  unless  we  have 
"  agreed  on  a  technical  language,  by  which  we  can 
"  describe  to  each  other  the  constituent  parts  ;  and 
"  by  that  means  agree  to  what  known  plant  it  bears 
"  the  greatest  resemblance.  The  Linnaean  system 
"  is  not  certainly  to  be  considered  as  free  from 
"  faults.  All  human  contrivance  will  abound  with 
"  them.  But  still  I  eannot  help  allowing  that,  as 
**  far  as  I  know,  it  is  the  best  hitherto  invented,  by  a 
"  great  interval ;  and  as  such,  is  now,  in  a  manner 
tc  invariably  received  by  the  whole  learned  world." 

We  therefore  present  our  readers  with  a  sketch 
of  this  famous  system. 

THE    OUTLINES    OF 

LINNjEUS'S  SYSTEM  OF  VEGETABLES, 

The  sexual  system,  as  invented  and  given  to 
the  world  by  Linnaeus,  is  built  or  founded  on  the 
male  and  female  parts  of  fructification.  By 
fructification  is  meant  flower  and  fruit ;  and  is  dis» 
posed  according  to  the  number,  proportion  and  sit- 


192  THE    BOTANIST. 

uation  of  the  stamens  or  pistils,  or  the  male  and  fe- 
male organs. 

For  the  sake  of  brevity  of  expression,  he  has  had 
recourse  to  the  Greek  language.  Andria,  from  Any, 
a  husband,  he  has  applied  to  the  stamen ;  and  gy- 
nia,  from  ywH,  a  wife,  to  the  pistil.  The  stamen- 
consists  of  two  parts : — first,  the  filament  is  that 
part  which  elevates  the  anthera  ; — second,  the  an- 
ther a  is  the  part  that  bears  the  pollen,  or  farina  fae- 
cundans,  that  impregnates  the  pistillum  or  germen. 

First,  The  pistillum  consists  of  three  parts  ; 
the  germen  or  embryo  of  a  future  fruit ; — second, 
the  style,  which  elevates  the  stigma ; — third,  the 
stigma  or  summit,  which  is  covered  with  a  moisture, 
that  dissolves  the  farina  fascundans  of  the  anthera, 
fitting  it  for  vivification. 

Of  the  classes  and  orders,  with  the  names  of 
plants  exemplifying  them. 

MONANDRIA 

CONTAINS    II.  ORDERS. 

One   Stamen  in  the  Hermafihrodite  Flower. 

T      C  Order  I.     Monogynia      \  C  Canna. 

Class  1.    £  order  II.  Digynia  $    E  \  Blitum. 

DIANDRIA 

CONTAINS    III.    ORDERS. 

Two   Sta?nens  in  the  Hermafihrodite  Floiver. 

f Order  I.       Monogynia')  fMonarda. 

Class  II.  \  Order  II.     Digynia        U.  g.^  Anthoxanthum. 
LOrder  III.   Trigynia      )  (.Piper. 


THE    BOTANIST. 
TRIANDR1A 

CONTAINS    III.    ORDERS. 

Three   Stamens  in  the   Hermaphrodite   Flower. 


193 


{Order  I.       Monbgynia "J  f( 

Order  II.     Digynia        I    e.  g.    -J  J 
Order  III.    Trigyhia      J  \_l 


Crocus. 
Avenaa. 

Moliugo. 


TETRANBRIA 

CONTAINS    III.    ORDERS. 

/>/wr   Stamens  in   the  Flower  with  the  Fruit. 

(If  two  firoximate  Stamens  are  shorter,  let  it  be  referred 
to   Class  XIV.) 

{Dipsacus. 
i  elis. 
Potamogeton. 


Class 


f  Order  I.       Monogynia^i 
IV.    <  Order  II.      Digynia        Ie. 
^  Order  III.    TetragyniaJ 


Class  V.  <J 


PENTAXDRIA 

CONTAINS    VI.    ORDERS. 

Five   Stamens  in   the    Hermaphrodite  Flower. 

fNerium. 

j  Anethum. 

j  Turnera. 
E.  G.  <  n 

^  Parnassia. 

Crassuia. 


nogynia  "J 
Fynia 


Order  I.  Mom 

Order  II.  Digr 

Order  III.  Trigynia 

Order  IV.  Tetragynia 

j  Order  V.  Pentagynia 

[  Order  VI.  Polygyria 


Myosurus. 


HEXANDRIA 

CONTAINS    V.    ORDERS. 

Six   Stamens  in   the   Hermaphrodite  Flower. 

f If  of  this,  twomofifiodt,e   Stamens  are  snorter,  it  bi  longs  to 
Class   XV. ) 


f Order  I. 

j  Order  II. 
Class  VI.   <J  Order  III.    Trig 
Order  IV.    Vetru 
Order  V.     Polygynia 

25 


)>  e.  g.  <;  p. 

J       U 


f  Amaryllis- 
|  Qryza. 
I-.u  .  ex. 


na- 
Ansnia. 


m  THE    BOTANIST. 

HEPTANDRIA. 

CONTAINS    IV.    ORDERS. 

Seven  Stamens  in  the  same  Flower  with  the  Pistillum. 

("Order  I.       Monogynia  ~\  f  Aesculus. 

Class  VIL  <  °rder  IL     DiSVnia         I   E  G    J  Limeum. 
'    j  Order  III.    Tetragynia     f  '     |  Saururus. 

(^Order  IV.   Hefitagynia  J  [_Septas. 

OCTANDRIA 

CONTAINS    IV.    ORDERS. 

Might  Stamens  in  the  same  Flower  with  the  Pistillum. 

{Order  I.  Monogynia"]  ("Oenothera. 

Order  II.  Digynia       \  J  Galenia. 

Order  III.  Trigynia      rE"  G,<\  Polygonum. 

Order  IV.  Tetragynia  J  j^Adoxa. 

ENNEANDRIA 

CONTAINS    III.    ORDERS. 

Nine   Stamens  in  the  Hermaphrodite  Flower. 

{Order  I.       Monogynia   "1  TCassyta. 

Order  II.      Trigynia        K   e.  g.   <  Rheum 
Order  III.    Hexagynia   J  (^Butomus. 


DECANDRIA 

CONTAINS    V.    ORDERS. 

Ten  Stamens  in  the  Hermaphrodite  Flower. 

'Order  I.       Monogynia  "|  ("Kalmia. 

Order  II.      Digynia  J  Saxifraga. 

Class  X.  <  Order  III.    Trigynia         J>e.  g.<^  Stellaria. 
Order  IV.    Pentagynia    I  I  Oxalis. 

Order  V.     Decagynia    J  (^Phytolacca. 


THE   BOTANIST. 


395 


DODECANDRIA 

CONTAINS    y.     ORDERS. 

Stamens  from  twelve  to  nineteen  in  the  Hermaphrodite 


Flower. 

{Order  I.     Monogynia 
Order  II.    Digynia 
Order  III.  Trigynia 
Order  IV.  Pentagynia 
Order  V.    Dodecagynia 


{Asarum. 
Agrimonia. 
Euphorbia. 
Glinus. 
Sempervivum. 


ICOSANDRIA. 

CONTAINS    V.     ORDERS. 

The  Stamens  inserted  (not  in  the  Receptacle,  but)  in  the  in 
side  of  the  Calyx. — Commonly  twenty,  often  more. 

J  Order  I.        Monogynia 
Order  II.     Digynia 
^  Order  III.    Trigynia         £.  e.  g. 
J  Order  IV.   Pentagynia 
(_Order  V.     Polygynia 

POLYANDRIA 

CONTAINS    VII.    ORDERS. 


fPunica. 
I  Crataegus. 
<  Sorous. 
I  Pyrus. 
(^Rubus. 


The  Stamens  inserted  in  the  Receptacle  from  twenty  to  an 
hundred^  in  the  same  with  the  Pistil  in  the  Flower. 


"Order  I. 
Order  II. 
Order  III. 
Class  XIII.  <^  Order  IV- 
Order  V. 
Order  VI. 


Monogynia 

Digynia 

Trigynia 


'"Sarracenia. 
Fothergilla. 
Aconitum. 


Pentagynia 
Hexagynia 
(_Order  VII.  Polygynia 


Tetragynia   £>e.  g.<  Tatracera 


Aquilegia. 
Stratiotes. 
Ranunculus. 


DIDYNAMIA 

CONTAINS    II.    ORDERS, 

Four  Stamens-,  of  which  two  are    close  together,    and    arc 

longer. 

Order  I.    Gy7nnospermia  }  „    „    S  Melittis. 


Class  XI\ 


M8 


rder  II.  Angiospermia 


It,     n     5MC 

SB-°7Mc 


lianthus. 


196  THE    BOTANIST. 

TETRADYNAMIA 

CONTAINS    II.    ORDERS. 

Six  Stamens  ;  four  of  which  are  long,  the  two  ofi/iosite  chort. 

^i        vu     ?  Order  I.      Siliculosd~>  (  Lunaria. 

Class  XV.   £  Order  n<    suigum  \  I  Cheiranth^s. 

MONADELPHIA 

CONTAINS    V.     ORDERS. 

The  Filaments  of  the  Stamens  grown  together  into  one  Body. 


Order  I.      P entandria 
Older  II.     Enncandri 


Class  XVI.  < 


ria  ""} 
ria  I 
ia       >e. 


Hermannia. 
Dryandra. 


Order  III.  Dccandria      ]>e.  g.<;  Geranium 
Order  IV.  Dodtcandria  j  Pu;tapete 

Order  V.    Polijandria   J  (jYlcea. 


DIADELPHIA 

CONTAINS    IV.    ORDERS. 

The  Filaments  of  the  Stamens  grown  together  into  two  Bo- 
dies. 

r Order  I.       Pentandria~\  ("Monnieria, 

,  Order  II.     Hexandria   !  J  Fumaria. 

Class  XVII.  <^  Qrder  nL    0clandria     >*'  G^  Pfciygala. 
j^Order  IV.   Decandria  J  [^Lathyrus. 

POLYADELPHIA 

CONTAINS    III.    ORDERS. 

The  Filaments  of   the   Stamens    grown  together  into  three 
or  more  Bodies. 


{"Order  I.      Pentandria"\  rTheobroma. 

Class  XVIII.  <  Order  II.    Icosandria    Ie.  g.<  Citrus. 

(_  Order  III.  Polijandria  J  (_  Hypericum, 


THE    BOTANIST. 


197 


SYNGENESIA 

CONTAINS    VI.    ORDEUS. 


The  Stamens  with  the  Antheras  grown   together  in  Form  of  a 
Cylinder  (having  rarely  Filaments. J 


»— i 

IT. 

U 


< 


'Order  I.     Polygamia  JEqualis    ~\  fLeontodon. 

Order II.   Polygamia  Sufierflua   I  J  Xeranthemura. 

Order  III. Poly gamiaFrustranea  \  J  Helianthus. 

OvderlV.  Polyga?fiia  Neccssaria  j  '     '^Calendula. 
Order  V.  Polygamia  Segregata   J  Echinops. 

Order  VI.  Monogamia  [_Lobelia. 


GYNANDRIA 


CONTAINS    VIII.    ORDERS. 


The   Stamens  inserted  on  the  Pistil  (not  on  the  Receptacle.) 


ClassXX.<< 


Order  I. 
Order  II. 
Order  III. 
Order  IV. 
Order  V. 
Order  VI. 
Order  VII. 


Diandria 

Triandria 

Tetrandria 

P  entandria 

Hexandria 

Decandria 

Dodecandria 


fOrchis. 


>e.  g.<; 


Order  VIII.  Polyandria 


Sisyrinchium. 

Nepenthes. 

Passiflora. 

Aristolochia, 

Helicteres. 

Cytinus. 


MONOECIA 


CONTAINS    XI.  ORDERS. 


The  Male  and  Female  Flowers  on  the  same  Plant. 


Class  XXI.  < 


Order  I. 
Order  II. 
Orderlll. 
Order  IV. 
Order  V. 
Order  VI. 
Order  VII. 
Order  VIII. 
Order  IX. 
OrderX. 
^OrderXI. 


Monandria 

Diandria 

Triandria 

Tetrandria 

Pentandria 

Hexandria     )>E. 

Hejitandria 

Polyandria 

Monadelphia 

Syngcnesia 

Gunandria 


"Zanichellia. 
Lemna. 
Tripsacum. 
Urtica. 
Parthenium, 
g.<^  Pharus. 
Guettarda. 
Juglans. 
Pinus. 
Momordica. 
Andraclme, 


19S 


THE    BOTANIST. 


DIOECIA 

CONTAINS     XIV.    ORDERS. 

The  Male  Flowers  on  a  different  Plant  from  the  Female 


'J 


Order  I. 

Monandria 

'Pandanus. 

Order  II. 

Diandria 

Salix. 

Order  III. 

Triandria 

Empetrum. 

Order  IV. 

Tetrandria 

Viscum. 

Order  V. 

P  entandria 

Humulus. 

Order  VI. 

Hexandria 

Tamus. 

Order  VII. 

Octandria 

>    E.  G.    < 

Populus. 

Order  VIII. 

JSnneandria 

Mercurialis. 

Order  IX. 

Decandria 

Kiggelaria. 

Order  X. 

Dodecandria 

Meiuspermum 

Order  XI. 

Polyandria 

Cliffortia. 

Order  XII. 

Monadelphia 

Junip^rus. 

Order  XIII 

Syngenesia 

Ruscus. 

Order  XIV 

Gynandria 

^Clutia. 

POLYGAMIA 

CONTAINS    III.  ORDERS. 

Hermaphrodite  and  Male   or  Female  Flowers  on  the  same 

Plant. 


f  Order  I.       Monoecia 
Class  XXIII.  1  Order  II.     Dioecia 
(^  Order  III.    Trioecia 


} 


rVeratrum. 
e.  g.   <  Fraxinus. 
(_  Ficus. 


CRYPTOGAMIA 

CONTAINS    IV.  ORDERS. 

The  Flowers  within  the  Fruit  ;    or  in  so  singular  a  ?node, 
as  not  to  be  perceptible    to  the  eye. 


"Order  I. 


Filices~\ 
Order  II.  Musci  ' 
Order  III. 


Class  XXIV.  <j  —   J-     — "  Y  e.  g.  ^  - 


^_Order  IV.   Fmtgi  J 


PALMjE. 


rPolypodium. 
J  Bryum. 
ucus. 
{^Agaricus. 


Class  XXV.     Palms :   the  flowers  borne  on  a  spadix,  and 
within  a  spathe.     e.  g.     Cocos. 


THE    BOTANIST.  199 

The  orders  are  taken  from  the  females,  or  pis- 
tils, as  the  classes  are  from  the  males,  or 
stamens  ;  but  in  the  classes  of  the  Syngenesia 
the  orders  differ  from  the  rest : 

FOR    EXAMPLE 

MoNOGYNIA,     DlGYNIA,     TrIGYNIA,     &C.       Tunf 

Femina,  with  the  prefixing  of  the  Greek  number 
(xoyo;  one,  In  two,  Tfe?c  three,  reo-o-a^  four,  &c. 

Which  means i  The  Pistil,  1,2,  3,  4,  &c. — Here  the 
number  of  the  pistils  is  taken  from  the  basis  of 
the  styles ;  if  the  basis  should  be  deficient, 
then  the  calculation  is  to  be  made  from  the  num- 
ber of  the  stigmas. 

POLYGAMIA  .EQUALIS. 

That  is,  Of  many  Flosculi  furnished  with  stamens 
and  pistils.  Flowers  of  this  sort  are  for  the  most 
part  commonly  called  jlosculous. 

POLYGAMIA  SPURIA. 

That  is,  Where  hermaphrodite  flosculi  occupy  the 
disk,  and  that  female  flosculi  surround  the  mar- 
gin, which  are  deprived  of  stamina,  and  that  in  a 
three-foid  manner. 

SUPERFLUOUS. 

That  is,  That  when  the  flowers  of  the  hermaphro- 
dite disk  are  furnished  with  a  stigma,  and  pro- 


300  THE    BOTANIST. 

duce  seeds,  the  female  flowers  also,  that  constitute, 
the  radius,  produce  seeds  in  like  manner. 


FRUSTRANEOUS. 


That  is,  When  the  flowers  of  the  hermaphrodite 
disk  are  furnished  with  a  stigma,  and  produce 
seeds ;  but  the  flosculi  constituting  the  radius, 
being  deprived  of  a  stigma,  cannot  produce  seeds. 


NECESSARY. 


That  is,  When  the  hermaphrodite  flowers,  through 
a  defect  of  the  stigma  or  pistil,  cannot  perfect 
their  seeds ;  but  female  flowers  in  the  radius  pro- 
duce perfect  seeds. 

SEGREGATED. 

That  is,  When  several  floriferous  calyxes  are  con- 
tained in  a  calyx  common  to  all,  so  as  to  form 
only  one  flower. 

The  young  student  of  botany  will  understand  the 
preceding  sketch  of  the  Linnasan  System,  if  he  have 
recourse  to  the  "  Letters  on  the  Elements  of  Bota- 
ny, addressed  to  a  Lady,-'  by  the  celebrated  J.  J. 
Rousseau,  translated  by  Dr.  Martyn.  If  to  this 
pleasant  guide,  he  should  add  John  Miller's  engrav- 
ed illustrations  of  the  sexual  system  of  Linnaaus,  he 
will  be  soon  able  to  proceed  v  ithout  the  help  of 
books  ;  as  it  regards  the  system.  It  is  superfluous 
to  add  a  word  to  what  has  been  said,  throughout 


THE    BOTANIST.  201 

these  essays,  respecting  the  botanical  writings  of 
Linnaeus.  But  "  botany  is  not  to  be  learnt  in  the 
closet :  you  must  go  into  the  garden  or  the  fields, 
and  there  become  familiar  with  Nature  herself; 
with  that  beauty,  order,  regularity,  and  inexhaustible 
variety,  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  structure  of 
vegetables ;  and  that  wonderful  fitness  to  its  end, 
which  we  perceive  in  every  work  of  creation."* 


THE   BOTANIST. 

N°.  XVIII. 

The    bright,   consummate    Flower,  says    the 
most  learned  of  poets,   "  spirits  odorous  breathes." 
Let  us  now  enquire  on  what  this  odour  depends. 
The  chemist  tells  us,  that  it  depends  on  the  oil  of 
the  plant.     But  we  are  dissatisfied  with  this  vague 
answer.     A  vegetable  distils  two  kinds  of  oil,  dif- 
fering very  much  from  each  other ;   the  one  is  fix- 
ed, and  the  other  volatile.     The  fixed  oil  is  com- 
bined with  mucilage  ;  the  volatile,   with  the  aroma, 
or  spiritus   rector  of  the  plant.     The  fixed  oil  is 
found  only  in  the  seeds  ;  and  is  confined  almost  en- 
tirely to  those  which  have  two  cotyledons,  as  in 
the  flax-seed,    almonds,   and  rape-seed.     But  the 

*  Martyn's  preface  to  Rousseau's  letters. 

26 


202  THE    BOTANIST. 

volatile  oil  is  found  in  every  part  of  a  plant,  except 
the  cotyledons  of  the  seeds,  where  it  never  oc- 
curs ;  and  is  distinguished  pre-eminently  in  Mil- 
ton's bright,  consummate  flower. 

When  we  say  that  the  fine  fragrance  of  a  flower 
depends    on    its  volatile  oil ;    or  that  its   aromatic 
virtue  is  contained  in  it,  and  hence  called  its  es- 
sential oil,   we  do  not  go  quite  far  enough.     We 
are  so  far  from  being  admitted,  says  the  profound 
Locke 5  into  the  secrets  of  nature,  that  we  scarcely 
approach  the  first  entrance.     We  overlook  the  op- 
erations of  those  invisible  fluids,  which  encompass 
them,  upon  whose  motions  and  operations  depend 
those  qualities,*  for  which  they  are  most  remarka- 
ble.     Thus  this  essential  oil   contains  something 
more  subtile  and  active  than  itself ;  a  spirit  >  an  ex- 
ceedingly minute,  volatile,  and  scarcely  ponderable 
spirit,  which,  when  separated,  leaves  nothing  pecu- 
liar in  the  remaining  oil.     This  is  the   spiritus  rec- 
tor'-of  the  old  chemists,  the  predominant,  prevailing, 
paramount,  or  ruling  spirit  of  the  plant.     This  aeri- 
form  fluidity,   gas,  or  spirit,   denominate  it  which 
you  will,  and  which  is  inimitable  by  art,  imparts 
that  smell,  taste,  and  medicinal  virtue  to  that  pecu- 
liar species  of  plants,  and  is  found  in  no  other. 
The  fixed  oil  of  a  plant  is  innate  ;  but  the  essential 
oil  is  the  effect,  or  the  result  of  the  vegetable  econ- 
omv,  operating  in  perfect  health,  and  in  full  perfec- 

*  What  Lock   calk  "  yr.M.tTins,"  Aristotle,  and  some  other  ancients.. 
-ailed  forms 


THE    BOTANIST.  20J 

aon,  while  drawing  its  sustentation  from  its  native 
earth  and  air. 

The  essential  oils  of  plants  have  their  respec- 
tive characteristics  from  their  aroma,  or  spirits. 
The  volatile  oil  serves,  in  some  degree,  for  envel- 
oping, arresting,  and  preventing  a  too  sudden,  and 
too  copious  expenditure  of  them  ;  while  the  fixed 
oil  serves  only  for  connecting  the  solid  parts  to- 
gether, like  the  oil  or  fat  in  animals.  The  differ- 
ence in  the  nature  of  these  two  oils,  is  therefore 
very  wide.  How  different  must  be  the  medicinal 
virtues  of  the  root — the  wood — the  leaf — the  flow- 
er— the  fruit,  and  the  seed  of  the  same  plant? 
Yet  we  physicians  have  been  in  the  habit  of  pound- 
ing up  an  entire  vegetable  in  a  mortar,  and  squeeze 
ing  out  the  juices  of  it,  and  of  giving  this  mixture 
of  every  thing  to  the  sick  ;  and  from  its  operation 
we  pronounce  on  its  predominant  medicinal  virtue. 
Those  who  filled  our  s}rstems  of  Materia  Medica 
with  Galenical  preparations,  had  no  idea  of  the  sub- 
tile structure  and  economy  of  a  vegetable.  While 
transforming  a  plant  into  an  ointment,  who  ever 
chinks  of  its  structure  ?  And  who  that  has  attend- 
ed closely  to  its  structure  and  economy,  can  rely  on 
its  analysis  by  fire,  which  reduces  every  plant  to 
the  same  coal,  the  same  earth,  and  the  same  salt  ? 

Some  of  our  readers  may  be  of  the  opinion,  that 
by  fixing  our  eyes  too  intently  on  the  poetical  flow- 
er of  Milton,  we  have  strayed  from  the  enlightened 
path  of  modern  chemistry,  into  such  a  thicket  of 
odoriferous  flowers  as  to  become,  if  not  stupified, 


204  THE    BOTANIST. 

at  least,  so  far  bewildered  as  not  to  be  able  to  find 
our  way  out.  We  are  aware  that  the  term  spirit, 
is  not  fashionable.  We  mean  by  it,  the  finest  and 
most  subtile  parts  of  bodies ;  the  most  active  part 
of  matter,  with  regard  to  its  facility  of  motion,  in 
comparison  with  the  grosser  parts  :  we  mean  that 
which  is  discoverable  by  its  smartness  to  the  smell ; 
and  that  which  rises  first  in  distillation.  The  name 
of  spirit,  was  formerly  given  to  any  subtile,  volatile 
substance,  that  exhaled  from  bodies  in  a  given  de- 
gree of  heat :  and,  by  a  sort  of  imaginary  analogy, 
was  transferred  to  the  human  system  :  hence  the 
term  animal  spirits;  which  was  ingeniously  sup- 
posed to  reside  in  the  nervous  fluid,  as  the  spiritus 
rector  resides  in  the  essential  oil  of  plants. 

If  the  term  spirit  should  displease  the  fastidious 
critic,  we  would  remind  him  that  spirit,  in  the 
German  language,  is  gaseht ;  whence  is  derived 
the  English  word  ghost  or  spirit ;  and  hence  our 
fashionable  word  gas,  or  gaz ;  by  which  we  are 
to  understand  an  exceedingly  rare,  highly  elastic, 
and  invisible  fluid,  not  condensible  by  cold.  Should 
the  critic  persist  in  refusing  his  imprimatur  to  the 
term  spirit,  or  spiritus  rector,  we  will  compound 
with  him,  by  giving  him  in  its  stead,  the  word 
quintessence ;  by  which  we  mean  the  specific  es- 
sence, the  active  principle,  by  the  power  of  which 
medicines  operate.  By  this  term  was  meant  the 
predominant,  ruling,  or  distinguishing  part  of  me- 
dicinal simples  which  can  be  separated,  in  imagina- 
tion, from  the  tangible  body,  leaving  its  organiza- 


THE    BOTANIST.  205 

tion  entire.  To  be  still  more  particular  :  The  an- 
tient  philosophers,  and  after  them,  our  old  chem- 
ists conceived  that  fire — air — water,  and  earth  con- 
tributed to  the  composition  of  all  vegetables  ;  to  all 
which  was  added  a  fifth  thing,  or  ens,  which  en- 
riched and  distinguished  the  whole,  by  its  own 
particular  efficacy  ;  and  on  which  the  odour,  taste, 
and  virtue  of  each  plant  depended  :  they  therefore 
asserted,  that  each  species  of  plants  was  made  up 
of  the  feur  common  elements ;  but  to  these  was 
added  a  fifth ;  which,  though  small  hi  quantity, 
was  the  most  powerful,  efficacious,  and  predomi- 
nant of  its  component  parts:  this  therefore  they 
called  the  fifth  essence  ;  or,  as  expressed  in  Latin, 
the  quinta  essentia. 

The  knowledge  of  quintessences  was  considered 
two  hundred  years  ago,  as  the  utmost  bounds,  the 
ne  plus  ultra  of  chemical  perfection.  Is  not  this 
precisely  the  case,  at  present,  with  the  knowledge 
of  gases,   or   spirits? 

We  have  said,  that  all  aromatic  plants  contain 
a  volatile  oil ;  but  this  aromatic  oil  does  not  reside 
in  the  same  part  in  every  kind  of  plant :  sometimes 
indeed  we  find  it  distributed  through  the  whole 
plant,  as  in  the  Bohemian  angelica  :  sometimes  it 
exists  only  in  the  bark,  as  in  cinnamon.  Balm, 
mint,  rosemary,  and  wormwood  contain  their  essen- 
tial oil  in  their  leaves  and  stems  ;  while  the  elecam- 
pane and  fiorentine  iris  deposite  it  in  their  roots. 
All  the  terebinthenate,  or  resin-bearing  trees,  have  it 
in  their  young  branches  ;    while  the  chamomile  and 


206  THE   BOTANIST. 

the  rose  have  it  in  their  petals.  Many  fruits  contain 
it  throughout  their  whole  substance,  as  pepper  and 
juniper.  Oranges  and  lemons  contain  it  in  their 
rind  or  peel.  The  nutmeg-tree  bears  its  essential 
oil  in  the  nut,  and  its  immediate  envelopment,  or 
rather  its  second  envelopment,  which  is  mace.  The 
seeds  of  the  umbelliferous  plants,  such  as  fennel^ 
eummin,  and  anise  have  the  vesicles  of  essential  oil 
along  the  projecting  lines  of  their  skin. 

Passing  from  the  aroma  of  plants  to  those  quali- 
ties which  powerfully  affect  the  organs  of  taste,  we 
remark  that  the  taste  of  essential  oils  is  pungent,  or 
hot.  But  it  is  curious  that  the  taste  of  the  plant 
does  not  always  influence  that  of  its  essential  oil ; 
for  the  oil  of  pepper  has  no  extraordinary  acrimo- 
ny ;  and  that  which  is  obtained  from  wormwood  is 
not  bitter  :  and  so  of  colour  ;  the  oil  of  red  roses  is 
white;  the  oil  of  lavender  yellow;  and  that  of 
chamomile  a  fine  blue.  The  oil  of  parsley  is  of  a 
bright  green,  and  that  of  millefoil  a  sea  green. 
This  is  a  valuable  part  of  botany  ;  and  ought  to  be 
diligently  pursued  in  this  country. 

Have  not  some  devotees  to  system  led  students 
of  botany  to  neglect  the  great  use  and  end  of  this 
science?  Far  be  it  from  us  to  slight  system.  We 
are  its  advocates ;  c  method  is  the  soul  of  science/* 
But  we  wish  to  remind  some  of  our  readers  of  the 
subordinate  rank  which  it  holds  to  the  great  and  ul- 
timate end  of  botany.     Far  be  it  from  the  Botanist 

*  Bacon. 


THE    BOTANIST.  207 

to  speak  lightly  of  the  pleasure  derived  from  the 
sight  of  an  elegant,  and  splendid  plant.  Amidst 
the  insatiable  variety  of  nature,  few  are  its  produc- 
tions that  can  be  placed  in  competition  with  a  beau- 
tiful, odoriferous  flower.  The  most  gorgeous  feath- 
ers captivate  the  sight  merely  by  the  richness  of 
their  colours  ;  and  the  most  brilliant  gem  but  daz- 
zles the  eye  by  its  splendour;  but  they  are  all 
blanks  to  the  blind  man  ;  who  is  regaled  by  the  fra- 
grance of  the  rose  and  the  violet ;  the  lily  and  the 
jessamine. 


THE    BOTANIST. 
N°.  XIX. 


If  love  be  any  refinement,  conjugal  love  must  be  certainly  so  in  a  much 
higher  degree.  It  is  the  parent  of  substantial  virtues  and  agreeable 
qualities,  and  cultivates  the  mind  while  it  improves  the  behaviour. 

Spectator,   N°.  525. 

We  dedicate  the  present  number  to  such  of  our 
fair  country  women,  as  honour  these  essays  with 
perusal.  Our  Flora,  on  this  occasion,  has  bound 
her  cheerful  brow  with  myrtle  and  placed  the  white 
rose  in  her  bosom.*     We  have  moreover  selected 

*  P^nts  sacred  to  love  in  ancient  mythology. 


20$  THE    BOTANIST. 

for  a  motto,  a  passage  from  that  accomplished 
scholar  and  friend  of  the  sex,  Addison,  as  contain- 
ing a  charming  sentiment,  every  way  proper  to  pre- 
cede the  history  of  a  female,  who  not  only  shone 
with  uncommon  splendour  as  an  artist  and  a  botan- 
ist, but  was  rendered  still  more  conspicuous  by  the 
additional  lustre  of  conjugal  affection,  which  virtue 
she  exercised  at  the  darkest  periods,  and  during  the 
most  distressful  pangs  of  human  calamity. 

Our  fair  readers  will  pardon  us,  if  we  should  fail 
in  celebrating  conjugal  affection,  the  ground  work 
of  all  the  domestic  virtues.  Teachers  of  right- 
eousness themselves  may  excuse  us,  if  we  cast  a 
look  of  regret  to  this  too  much  neglected  portion 
of  moral  philosophy.  We  have  colleges  for  teach- 
ing every  art  and  science.  We  have  minute  direc- 
tions in  gardening  and  agriculture.  We  have 
numberless  books  on  the  doctrine  of  business ;  on 
self  policy,  or  the  art  of  rising  in  life  ;  on  oratory, 
and  on  politics ;  while  that  which  is  worth  them 
all,  the  doctrine  of  domestic  happiness •,  is  left  com- 
paratively uncultivated ;  yet  this  is  that  philoso- 
phy, spoken  of  by  Lord  Bacon,  which  of  all  oth- 
ers "  comes  home  to  men's  business  and  boso?ns" 

The  history  of  every  civilized  nation,  nay  every 
man's  own  recollection,  affords  abundant  proofs, 
that  the  female  mind  is  equally  capable  with  that  of 
the  male.  It  is  situation  and  circumstances  that 
rouse  the  latent  energies  of  the  female  soul. 
Whence  is  it,  that  the  children  of  widows  become 
generally  better  men  and  better  women,  than  chil- 


THE    BOTANIST.  209 

clren  brought  up  in  conjunction  with  the  father  ?  It 
ause  afflictive  circumstances  have  called  forth 
the  dormant  energies  of   heroic  woman,  and  per- 
fected a  virtue  peculiar  to  the  sex  ;  a  virtue,  which 
originated   in  conjugal  affection.     Can  this  evanes- 
cent world,  this  anxious  scene,  exhibit  a  more  in- 
teresting sight  to  the  philosopher,  than  a  virtuous 
widow    weeping    over    her    "  houseless    child    of 
want  ?"     Yes  ;   there  is  one  picture  still  more  af- 
fecting.    It  is  where   the   father  and   husband  is 
worse  than  dead,  through  his  folly  and  his  crimes. 
Here,  if  conjugal  love  has  not  been  ripened  into 
maternal  affection,  and  grown  up  into  the  highest 
of  stoical  virtues,  nay  more,  sublimed  into  religion, 
the  wretched  woman  sinks  into  intemperance,  or  is 
lost  in  despair.     An  over  anxious  and  unrestrained 
fondness  is  not  true  maternal  affection.     The  fowls 
of  the  air  and  the  beasts  of  the  field  have  also  a 
blind  and  furious  fondness  for  their  young.     Ma- 
ternal affection  is   where  judgement  draws  more 
closely  the  bonds  of  nature. 

The  happiness  of  the  conjugal  state  appears  height- 
ened, says  Addison,  to  the  highest  degree  it  is  ca- 
pable of,  when  we  see  two  persons  of  accomplished 
minds  not  only  united  in  the  same  interests  and  af- 
fections, but  in  their  taste  of  the  same  improve- 
ments, pleasures,  and  diversions.  Pliny,  one  of 
the  finest,  gentlemen  and  politest  writers  among  the 
Romans,  has  left  us,  in  his  letter  to  Hispulla,  his 
wife's  aunt,  one  of  the  most  agreeable  family  pieces 
of  this  kind  ever  seen.  We  refer  our  readers  to  the 
27 


210  THE   BOTANIST. 

525th  number  of  the  Spectator  for  the  letter  itself, 
and  hasten  to  give  an  account  of  an  ingenious  and 
excellent  woman,  who  enlivened  the  dungeon  of 
her  husband  with  flowers,  and  entwined  his  fetters 
with  the  white  rose  and  the  myrtle. 

It  is  a  singular  fact,  says  Dr.  Pulteney,  that 
physic  is  indebted  for  the  most  complete  set  of 
figures  of  the  medical  plants  to  the  genius  and  in- 
dustry of  a  lady,  exerted  on  an  occasion,  that  re- 
dounded highly  to  her  praise.     The  name  of 

MRS.    ELIZABETH    BLACKWELL 

is  well  known,  both  from  her  own  merit  and  the 
fate  of  her  unfortunate  husband,  who,  condemned 
for  crimes  of  state,  suffered  death  on  the  scaffold  in 
Sweden,  in  the  year  1747. 

We  are  informed,  she  was  the  daughter  of  a 
merchant  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Aberdeen;  of 
which  city  Dr.  Alexander  Blackwell,  her  husband, 
was  a  native,  and  where  he  received  an  university 
education,  and  was  early  distinguished  for  his 
knowledge.  After  having  failed  in  his  attempt  to 
introduce  himself  into  practice,  first  in  Scotland, 
and  afterwards  in  London,  he  became  corrector  to 
a  printing  press  ;  and  soon  after  commenced  print- 
ing himself.  But  being  prosecuted  by  the  trade, 
and  at  length  involved  in  debt,  was  thrown  into 
prison.  To  relieve  these  distresses,  Mrs.  Black- 
well  having  a  genius  for  drawing  and  painting,  ex- 
erted all  her  talents ;  and,  understanding  that  an 
herbal  of  medicinal  plants  was  greatly  wanted,  she 


THE    BOTANIST.  211 

exhibited  to  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  Dr.  Mead,  and  other 
ph)rsicians,  some  specimens  of  her  art  in  painting 
plants,  who  approved  so  highly  of  them,  as  to  en- 
courage her  to  prosecute  a  work,  by  the  profits  of 
which  she  is  said  to  have  procured  her  husband's 
liberty,  after  a  confinement  of  two  years.  Dr.  Issac 
Rand  was  at  that  time  Demonstrator  to  the  Compa- 
ny of  Apothecaries,  in  the  garden  at  Chelsea.  By 
his  advice  she  took  up  her  residence  opposite  the 
Physic  Garden,  in  order  to  facilitate  her  design  by 
receiving  the  plants  as  fresh  as  possible.  He  not 
only  promoted  her  work  with  the  public,  but,  to- 
gether with  the  celebrated  Philip  Miller,  afforded 
her  all  possible  direction  and  assistance  in  the  exe- 
cution of  it.  After  she  had  completed  the  draw- 
ings, she  engraved  them  on  copper,  and  coloured 
the  prints  with  her  own  hands.  During  her  abode 
at  Chelsea,  she  was  frequently  visited  by  persons  of 
quality,  and  many  scientific  people,  who  admired 
her  performances  and  patronized  her  undertaking. 

On  publishing  the  first  volume,  in  1737,  she  ob- 
tained a  recommendation  from  Dr.  Mead,  Dr. 
Sherard,  Dr.  Rand,  and  others,  to  be  prefixed  to  it. 
And  being  allowed  to  present,  in  person,  a  copy  to 
the  College  of  Physicians,  that  body  made  her  a 
present,  and  gave  her  a  public  testimonial  of  their 
approbation ;  with  leave  to  prefix  it  to  her  book. 
The  second  volume  was  finished  in  1739,  and  the 
whole  published  under  the  following  title  :  UA  cu- 
rious Herbal,  containing  500  Cuts  of  the  most  use- 
ful plants  which  are  now  used  in  the  practice  of 


21B  THE   BOTANIST. 

Physic,  engraved  on  folio  copper -plates,  after  draw- 
ings  taken  from  the  life.  By  Elizabeth  Blac/avell. 
To  which  is  added,  a  short  description  of  the  Plants, 
and  their  common  uses  in  Physic.  1739."  2 
Vol.  fol. 

The  drawings  are  in  general  faithful ;  and  if 
there  is  wanting  that  accuracy,  which  modern  im- 
provements have  rendered  necessary  in  delineating 
the  more  minute  parts,  yet,  upon  the  whole,  the 
figures  are  sufficiently  distinctive  of  the  subject. 
Each  plate  is  accompanied  with  an  engraved  page, 
containing  the  Latin  and  English  officinal  names, 
followed  by  a  short  description  of  the  plant,  and  a 
summary  of  its  qualities  and  uses.  After  these  oc- 
cur the  name  in  various  other  languages.  These 
illustrations  were  the  share  her  husband  took  in  the 
work.  This  ill-fated  man,  after  his  failure  in  phys- 
ic, and  in  printing,  became  an  unsuccessful  candi- 
date for  the  place  of  secretary  to  the  Society  for 
the  encouragement  of  learning.  He  was  made 
superintendant  of  the  works  belonging  to  the  Duke 
of  Candos,  at  Cannons,  and  experienced  those  dis- 
appointments, incident  to  projectors.  He  formed 
schemes  in  agriculture,  and  wrote  a  treatise  on  the 
subject,  which  we  are  told  was  the  cause  of  his  be- 
ing engaged  in  Sweden.  In  that  kingdom  he 
drained  marshes,  practised  physic,  and  was  even 
employed  in  that  capacity  for  the  king.  At  length 
he  was  involved  in  some  state  cabals  ;  or,  as  some 
?.ccounts  have  it,  in  a  plot  with  Count   Tessin,  for 


THE    BOTANIST.  213 

which  he  suffered  death,  protesting  his  innocence  to 
the  last.* 

So  respectable  a  performance  as  Mrs.  Blackwell's 
attracted  the  attention  of  physicians  on  the  conti- 
nent. It  was  translated  into  German  and  repub- 
lished at  Norimburg,  in  1750.  To  this  edition 
was  prefixed  a  most  elaborate  and  learned  catalogue 
of  botanical  authors.  In  1773  a  supplemental  vol- 
ume, exhibiting  plants  omitted  by  Mrs.  Black- 
well,  was  published  under  the  direction  of  Ludwig, 
Rose,  and  Boehmer.  In  this  form  the  work  of 
this  learned  and  ingenious  lady  surpassed  all  that 
had  been  published.  We  hope  the  patrons  of  bota- 
ny, will  gratify  the  ladies  of  America  with  a  sight 
of  these  splendid  books,  not  merely  as  a  valuable 
treasure  of  botanical  knowledge,  but  to  show  the 
men  to  what  degree  of  perfection  the  other  sex  may 
ascend,  when  their  talents  are  brought  forth,  and 
sublimed  by  conjugal  affection. 

Prior  to  the  time  of  Mrs.  Blackwell,  flourished 
the  very  ingenious  and  indefatigable 

MARIA   SYBIL   MERIAN, 

Who  was  born  at  Francfort  in  1647.  Her  fa- 
ther was  a  celebrated  engraver ;  and  from  him 
she  acquired  a  knowledge  of  drawing.  He  placed 
her  under  the  instruction  of  an  eminent  painter, 
from  whom  she  learnt   a  remarkable  neatness  of 

*  Dr.  Pulteney's  historical  and  biographical  sketches  of  the  progress  of 
Botany  in  England. 


214  THE    BOTANIST. 

managing  the  pencil,  and  delicacy  of  colouring. 
She  was  particularly  fond  of  painting  subjects  of 
natural  history  ;  such  as  plants,  reptiles,  and  insects, 
which  she  most  commonly  drew  from  nature ;  at 
the  same  time,  she  studied  those  objects  with  a  cu- 
riosity, and  with  the  inquisitive  spirit  of  a  natural- 
ist ;  so  that  her  knowledge  of  nature,  and  the  work 
of  her  hands,  rendered  her  every  day,  more  and 
more  celebrated.  She  most  commonly  painted  her 
subjects  on  vellum  ;  and  in  water  colours  ;  and  she 
finished  an  astonishing  number.  She  painted  the 
caterpillar,  in  all  its  various  changes  and  formSj  in 
which  they  successively  appear,  from  their  quies- 
cent state,  till  they  become  butterflies.  Not  con- 
tented with  painting  the  plants,  insects,  and  rep- 
tiles, of  her  own  country,  this  enterprising  woman 
crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  visited  Surinam,  to  paint 
those  plants,  insects,  and  reptiles,  which  were  pe- 
culiar to  that  climate.  At  her  return  to  Europe, 
she  published  two  volumes  of  engravings,  which 
she  executed  from  her  own  paintings ;  and  which 
hold  a  high  rank  in  that  art.  But  they  are  not 
equal  to  her  paintings  ;  for  her  glistening  serpents, 
her  wet  frogs,  and  her  crawling  spiders  are  execut- 
ed with  horrible  precision.  This  celebrated  wo- 
man died  in  1717.  She  left  a  daughter,  who  paint- 
ed in  the  same  style ;  and  who  had  accompanied 
her  mother  to  Surinam.  This  young  lady  pub- 
lished a  3d  volume  in  folio,  collected  from  the  de- 
signs of  her  mother ;    which  complete  work  has 


THE  BOTANIST.  215 

been  always  admired  by  the  learned,  as  well  as  by 
the  professors  of  painting.* 

The  Botanist  cannot  too  strongly  recommend  to 
his  fair  readers  the  art  of  delineation  or  drawing. 
What  a  decided  superiority  does  a  facility  in  this 
art  give  to  the  person  who  possesses  it,  over  the 
one  who  does  not  ?  If  the  time  consumed  by  our 
young  ladies,  in  learning  to  play  tolerably  ill  on 
sundry  musical  instruments,  were  devoted  to  the 
charming  art  of  copying  nature,  and  acquiring  some 
knowledge  of  her  works,  how  beautifully  would  it 
embellish  our  system  of  female  education  ?  This 
art  is  not  merely  in  itself  amusing,  but  may  be 
highly  useful  and  important,  in  a  change  of  for- 
tune, and  under  the  pressure  of  adverse  circum- 
stances, as  has  been  illustrated  in  the  historv  of  the 
amiable,   but  unfortunate  Elizabeth  Blackwell. 


THE   BOTANIST. 

N°.   XX. 

1        Last  the  bright,  consummate  Flower. 

Milton. 

We  have  already  described  the  parts  essential  to 
every  flower  ;f  and  have  showed  that  botanists 
were,  a  long  time,  puzzled  how  to  define  one.     A 

•  See  Escyclop,  Brififa-  +  See  number  XV  I. 


216  THE    BOTANIST. 

flower  is  to  the  plant  or  herbage,  what  the  human 
face  is  to  the  body  ;  being  that  part  which  particu- 
larly marks  and  characterizes  the  man.  This  was 
Milton's  idea,  who  bestows  upon  it  the  epithet  of 
consummate,  as  containing,  and  expressing  an  as- 
semblage of  all  its  virtues  and  excellencies.  The 
antients  appear  to  have  had  a  similar  notion  of  this 
bright  countenance  of  a  plant.  Pliny  says  that  blos- 
soms are  the  joy  of  trees,  in  bearing  which  they 
assume  a  new  countenance,  or  aspect,  vying  with 
each  other  in  the  luxuriance,  and  variety  of  their 
colours.  Poets  of  all  ages  and  nations  have  run  a 
parallel  between  man  and  plants  ;  and  have  compar- 
ed the  most  blooming  and  beautiful  part  of  our  spe- 
cies to  those  flowers  that  are  the  most  charming 
for  their  aspect,  and  their  fragrance.  So  also  have 
the  modern  poets. 

Upon  her  head  the  various  wreath ; 

The  flowers,  less  blooming  than  her  face  ; 
Their  scent,  less  fragrant  than  her  breath.* 

Throughout  inanimate  nature,  is  there  any  thing 
which  unites  so  many  delightful  circumstances  as 
certain  flowers  ?  They  have  a  cool,  a  smooth  and 
polished  surface,  very  grateful  to  the  touch  :  they 
have  a  beauty  transcending  almost  every  thing  else 
in  nature  :  they  have  a  fragrance  surpassing  every 
thing  in  creation ;  and  they  exude  a  nectarious 
fluid,  proverbial  for  its  delicious  sweetness.  Here 
every  sense,  excepting  the  hearing,  is  regaled. 

*  Prior. 


THE    BOTANIST.  217 

No  part  of  a  plant  approaches  so  near  anima- 
tion as  the  flowers  ;  and  some  think  that  the  nec- 
taria  are  those  parts  of  it,  destined  by  nature  to 
unite  the  vegetable  to  the  animal  kingdom,  and  so 
to  make  them  circulate  from  one  to  the  other ;  the 
bee,  in  this  case,  being  a  link  in  the  chain.  Some 
plants  discover  a  remarkable  sensibility,  or  irita- 
bility  in  their  stamina  and  pistilla,  or  rather  in  their 
anthers  and  stigma,  as  in  our  common  barberry,* 
or  in  rue,f  where  their  motions  seem,  at  times,  to 
mimic  animal  life. 

The  pollen  and  the  stigma  are  always  in  perfec- 
tion at  the  same  time.     If  viewed  through  a  micro- 
scope, each  particle  of  pollen  appears  to  be  a  mem- 
branous bag,  or  bladder,   which  remains  entire  till 
it  comes  in  contact  with  water,  and  then  it  bursts 
with  an  elastic  force,  discharging  a  most  subtile  va- 
pour,   which  we  presume  impregnates  the  pistil- 
lum,  and  gradually  expands  the  germ.     But,  lest 
these  minute  capsules  should  burst,   by  coming  in 
contact  with  any   moisture,   and  prematurely  emit 
their   vapour,    nature  has   guarded   many   flowers 
from  its  effect,  by  covering  over  the  pollen  with  so 
perfect  a  parapluie,  as  in  our  sarracenia,  or  fore- 
fathers-cup,   that  it  would  not  be  extravagant  to 
suppose,  that  it  might  have  given  the  first  idea  of 
this  instrument.     The  pollen  of  the  blue  irisj  has 
a  double  covering  of  another  kind.     The  pendant 
position  of  some  flowers  sufficiently  guards  them 

*  Berberis  communis.  f  Ruta  graveolens.  \  Iris  gennanicar* 

28 


218  THE    BOTANIST. 

from  moisture,  at  that  period  of  their  existence 
when  it  would  be  injurious  to  them,  as  in  the 
crown  imperial.*  Many  flowers  shew  an  instinc- 
tive sensibility  of  approaching  rain  ;  and  in  that 
state  of  the  atmosphere  which  precedes  it,  shut  up 
their  corrolla,  so  as  to  cover  completely  their  an- 
thers and  stigma. f  Sometimes,  indeed,  a  thunder 
storm  overtakes  them  by  surprise,  before  they  are 
prepared  to  close. 

Aquatic  plants,  or  such  as  naturally  grow  in  wa- 
ter, have  their  pollen  carefully  guarded  from  mois- 
ture, as  we  see  in  the  family  of  Nymphoea.  The 
Lotos,\  celebrated  through  so  many  ages  and  coun- 
tries, is  one  of  them.  This  venerated  plant  closes 
its  flowers,  and  sinks  under  water  in  the  night ; 
and  rises  again  in  the  morning  to  salute  the  sun. 
But  none  of  the  aquatic  plants  is  more  curious  than 
the  valesnaria  spiralis,  which  blossoms  under  wa- 

*  Fritillaria  impenalis. 

f  The  flower  of  the  solanum  tuberosum,  or  potatoe,  is  a  remarkable- 
instance. 

|  Sir  William  Jones,  in  speaking  of  Brimha,  Vishnou,  and  Shiva,  as 
emblematical  representations  of  the  Deity,  says  "  the  first  operations  of 
these  three  powers  are  evidently  described  in  the  different  Pouranas  by 
a  number  of  allegories  ;  and  from  them  we  may  deduce  the  Ionian  phi- 
losophy of  primaeval  water,  the  doctrine  of  the  mundane  egg,  and  the 
veneration  paid  to  the  nympbcea  or  lotos,  which  was  anciently  revered  in 
Egypt,  as  it  is  at  present  in  Hindostan,  Tibet,  and  Nepal.  The  inhabi- 
tants ofTibtt  embellish  their  temples  and  altars  with  it ;  and  a  native  of 
Nepal  made  prostrations  before  it,  on  entering  my  study,  where  the  fine 
plant  and  beautiful  flowers  lay  for  examination,'' 


THE    BOTANIST.  219 

ter,   yet  is  its  fecundating  powder   secured  from 
moisture.* 

Although  each  bud  and  flower  seems  to  be  a 
complete  system,  or  individual,  yet  are  they  but 
parts  of  a  whole  :  for  notwithstanding  the  distance, 
and  difference  between  the  roots  of  a  tree  and  its 
flowers,  there  is  a  remarkable  consent  or  sympathy 
between  them ;  for  when  the  roots  are  exuberant 
the  flowers  are  defective ;  yet  this  is  not  more  sur- 
prizing than  that  instance  of  sympathy,  which  sub- 
sists between  our  stomachs  and  our  eyes ;  for  we 
know  that  irritations  in  the  alimentary  canal  (which 
corresponds  to  the  roots  of  a  plant)  are  discoverable 
in  the  organs  of  sight. 

Enraptured  as  we  often  are  with  the  splendour 
and  fragrance  of  flowers,  their  transitory  beauty  fre- 
quently occasions  the  unconscious  sigh.  Their 
evanescent  existence  has  so  often  been  compared  to 
the  corresponding  periods  of  human  life,  that  they 
are  seldom  contemplated  without  a  mixture  of  mel- 
ancholy. The  man  who  has  unhappily  imbibed 
the  comfortless  doctrine  of  a  blind  nature,  that  la- 
bours, through  the  whole  of  its  wonderful  works, 
without  end  or  design,  receives  no  cheering  im- 
pressions on  a  sight  of  the  transient  flower:  yet 
must  he  know,  on  a  moment's  reflection,  that  al- 
though the  flower  fleeth  like  a  shadow,  its  species 
never  dies ;  but  contains  within  itself  the  principle 


*  A  species  of  valesnaria  is  found  in  the  ponds  in  the  neighborhood  of 
rarabridge. 


220  THE    BOTANIST. 

of  perpetual  renovation.  And  he  who  has  stopped 
short  of  saying  in  his  heart  "  there  is  no  God!  "  but 
having  imbibed  a  notion  that  death  is  an  everlast- 
ing sleep,  is  apt  to  compare  himself  with  the  plant, 
and  to  repine  at  the  difference.  He  observes  the 
pride  of  our  forests,  the  oak,  shedding  his  leaves 
in  the  autumn ;  and  sees  them  renovated  in  the 
spring,  and  going  on  reclothing  and  flourishing 
through  ages,  while  he,  surveying  his  decayed  and 
nerveless  limbs,  sighs  out  in  despair — there  is  no 
returning  spring  for  me  !  Every  revolving  sun  but 
adds  more  marks  of  decay.  My  withered  trunk 
shall  never  clothe  itself  with  a  smoother  rind ;  nor 
my  hoary  locks  be  readorned  with  the  auburn  gloss 
of  youth;  nor  will  a  more  vigorous  sap  circulate 
through  my  nearly  collapsed  vessels !  The  plant 
is  annually  renovated,  while  the  lord  of  the  earth, 
wkh  all  his  towering  faculties,  withers  and  sinks 
down  to  an  everlasting  sleep  !* — But  this  is  judg- 
ing by  sense  and  sight  alone — 

Believe  the  muse :  the  wintry  blast  of  death 
Kills  not  the  buds  of  virtue ;  no,  they  spread, 
Beneath  the  heavenly  beam  of  brighter  suns, 
Thro' endless  ages,  into  higher  powers,  f 

The  attempt  to  describe  by  words,  that  which  in 
truth,  requires  the  faithful  pencil  of  the  first  of  paint- 
ers, may  well  be  deemed  a  futile  effort.  Who 
would  attempt  to  describe  by  words  "  the  gay  car- 
nation"%     The  most  eminent  in  the  Belgian  school 

*  A  similar  idea  is  to  be  found  somewhere  in  the  writings  of  Godwiq, 
■^Thomson's  Summer.  \  JVIilton. 


THE    BOTANIST.  221 

of  painters,  may  throw  his  pencil  by  in  despair  of 
imitating  even  the  violet  or  apple-blossom  ;  for 
"  who  can  paint  like  nature  ?"  what  colours  on  the 
painters  pallet  can  express  the  richness  of  the  ama- 
ryllis  formosissima  ;  or  the  superbia  gloriosa  ;  or  the 
dodecatheon  of  Linnaeus  ?  Who  could  hope  to  suc- 
ceed in  the  description  of  the  strelitzia  regina*  a- 
domed  as  it  is,  "with  purple,  azure,  and  speck'd  with 
gold?"  or  the  Ixora  coccinea,  the  cluster  of  whose 
flowers  are  so  brilliant  that  they  resemble  burning 
coals.  The  splendid  hamanthus  ;  the  red  and  blue 
echiutn  orientale  ;  the  elegant  pancratium,  with  its 
long  and  slender  filaments ;  or  the  lilio  narcissus 
qfricanus,  whose  petals  are  white  as  snow,  with 
streaks  of  crimson  :  These,  as  well  as  the  gorgeous 
inusa,  equally  defy  the  power  of  paint  and  the  art  of 
the  pencil. 

If  the  painter  can  give  but  a  faint  picture  of  the 
violet,  or  the  passion-flower,  or  the  chalcedonian 
lily,  what  would  he  say,  if  requested  to  express 
with  his  colours  some  of  the  family  of  the  Cacti  ? 
particularly  the   Cactus  grandiflorus,    or   night- 


*  So  called  by  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  in  honour  of  the  queen  of  England. 
This  plant  is  curiously  formed,  as  well  as  pre-eminently  splendid. 

f  The  Botanist  having  published  a  picturesque  account  of  the  cactus 
grandifloru:,  or  nlgbt-bk-wing  cereus  in  June,  1808,  which  was  afterwards 
copied  into  some  of  the  newspapers,  has  been  induced,  from  the  no- 
tice which  that  imperfect  description  attracted,  to  give  a  more  particu- 
lar history  of  this  very  curious  family  of  plants,  the  cacti. 

Not  only  Theophrastus,  but  Dioscorides,  Athenseus,  and  Pliny  have  de- 
scribed a  plant  which  they  called  kudos,  which  was  said  to  have  creeping 


222  THE    BOTANIST. 

blowing  cEREUs.f     This  stately  flower  is  found 
in  different  parts  of  South  America,  and  in  some  of 


stems,  with  a  broad  and  prickly  leaf;  and  that  it  was  not  indigenous  in 
Greece. 

These  plants  appear  to  us  of  a  strange  and  singular  structure ;  and  on 
that  account  they  are  cultivated  in  the  stoves  and  green-houses  of  the  cu- 
rious. Of  this  genus  of  plants,  there  are  more  than  forty  species  already 
described.  They  are  natives  of  South- America  and  of  the  West-India 
Islands.  The  species  cultivated  in  gardens  are  the  cactus  mamillaris,  or 
melon-thistle ;  C.  melo-cactus,  great  melon  thistle,  or  Turk's  cap  ;  C.  te- 
tragonus,  four  angled  upright  torch  thistle  ;  C.  hexagonous,  six  angled 
torch  thistle  ;  C.  heptagonous,  seven  angled  upright  torch  thistle  ;  C.  re- 
pandus,  slender  upright  torch  thistle;  C.  lanuginosus,  woolly  upright 
torch  thistle ;  C.  peruvianus,  Peruvian  upright  torch  thistle ;  C.  Royeni, 
Royen's  upright  torch  thistle  ;  C.  grandiforus,  great  flowering,  creeping 
cereus;  C.  flagelliformis  pink  flowering,  creeping  cereus;  C.  triangu- 
laris, triangular  cereus,  or  strawberry  pear.  Then  comes  the  opuntia,  or 
Indian  fig,  or  prickly  pear ;  C.  tuna,  great  Indian  fig ;  C.  curassavicus,  the 
curassoa,  least  Indian  fig,  or  pin  pillow ;  C.  spinosissimus,  cluster-spined 
Indian  fig;  C.  phyllanthus,  spleenwort-leavcd  Indian  fig;  C.  alatus,  nar- 
row long  jointed  Indian  fig  ;  C.  moniliformis,  neck  lace,  or  Indian  fig ; 
C.  pereskia,  Barbadoes  gooseberry. 

Most  of  thete  curious  cacti  have  been  described  by  La  Mark  from  the 
MM.S.  of  Plumier,  at  St.  Domingo.  Of  these  singular  plants,  the 
generic  character  is,  Calyx  superior,  imbricated,  tubular,  deciduous.  Cor. 
petals  numerous,  disposed  in  several  ranks ;  the  outer  ones  shorter,  the 
inner  rather  larger.  Stam.  filaments  numerous,  inserted  into  the  calyx  ; 
anthers  oblong.  Pistil,  germ  inferior;  style  cylindric;  stigma  headed, 
multified.  Peric.  berry  oblong,  umbilicated  at  its  summit,  one-celled. 
Seeds  numerous,  bedded  in  pulp. 

Essential  character ;  calyx  superior,  imbricated.  Corolla  of  many  petals. 
Berry  one-celled.  Seeds  numerous.  A  numerous  tribe  of  plants,  which 
former  botanists  had  distributed  into  separate  genera,  Linnaeus  has  united 
in  one  genus.  He  says  that  the  melocactus,  is  monocotyledinous ;  and 
opuntia  dicotyledinous;  but  that  nevertheless  they  are  of  the  same  natural 
genus. 

Of  this  singular  family  of  plants  the  Ecbinomelocacti,\htTvKYL's  cap  is  gen. 
erally  viewed  as  the  most  curious.  It  so  resembles  in  size,  in  shape,  and 
decoration,  an  elegant  cap  of  Turkish  fashion,  that  most  people,  on  firs': 


THE    BOTANIST. 

the  West  India  Island*.     It  expands  a  most  beauti- 
ful  corrolla   of  nearly'  a   foot  in  diameter :    it  has 


sight  of  it,  suppose  it  to  be  the  work  of  art,  and  not  a  production  of  na- 
ture. It  is  a  roundish  mass,  with  fourteen  angles,  and  sometimes  more 
than  three  feet  in  circumference  ;  consisting  internally  of  a  soft,  green, 
fleshy  substance,  full  of  moisture  ;  deeply  divided  into  fourteen  regular, 
smooth,  flat-sided  parts  ;  the  ridge  of  the  ribs  furnished  with  a  row  of 
clustered,  stiff",  straight,  diverging  spines,  about  an  inch  long,  and  red  at 
their  summit.  Flowers  red,  situated  at  the  top  of  the  plant,  which  con- 
stitute the  ornamental  tuft  of  the  cap  ;  but  the  tuft  is  more  remarkable 
in  the  fourth  species,  viz.  the  coronatus,  where  it  is  composed  of  a  white, 
close,  cottony  down,  interspersed  with  clusters  of  red  spines.  This  is  a 
native  of  South  America,  where  they  grow  from  apertures  in  the  steep 
sides  of  rocks. 

Among  other  singularities  this  odd  family  of  vegetables  have  no  lea-vet. 
The  cacti  are  divided  into  the  melon-thistle  ;  the  torch-thistle  ;  the  creeping 
cereus ;  and  the  Indian  fgs.  Of  the  erect  cereuses,  or  those  which  support 
themselves,  the  cereus  peruvianus,  or  as  the  French  call  it  cierge  epineux 
is  worthy  notice.  There  is  one  now  in  the  Imperial  Garden  at  Paris, 
forty  feet  high.  It  was  presented  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago,  by 
Hotton,  professor  of  botany  at  Leyden,  to  Fagon,  first  physician  to  Lewis 
XIV.  when  it  was  only  four  or  five  inches  high.  The  growth  of  each 
year  is  distinguished  by  a  contraction  of  the  stem  ;  each  of  these  con- 
tractions is  at  first  very  deep,  and  remains  nearly  the  same  for  years,  when 
it  gradually  diminishes,  and  at  length  is  entirely  obliterated.  This  plant 
grew  at  first  about  a  foot  and  a  half  in  a  year,  and  when  it  was  fourteen 
years  old,  was  twenty-three  feet  high,  and  seven  inches  in  diameter.  A^ 
the  age  of  eleven,  it  produced  its  first  two  branches,  about  three  feet 
from  the  ground  ;  a  year  after  it  produced  its  first  flowers,  and  has  con- 
tinued to  flower  ever  since.    See  Diet.  Agric.  Nouv.  Encycl. 

The  twenty-third  species  of  this  genus  is  cereus  grandiflorus  ; 
or  night  flowering  creeping  cereus,^  with  lateral  roots ;  and  is  the  superb 
plant  mentioned  in  this  number.  'Tis  the  cereus  scandens  minor  Miller 
jcon  Tab.  90.  C.  gracilis  scandens  ramosus,  flore  ingenti,  &c.  Trew 
Ehr.  Tab.  31,32.  Eph.  Nat.  Curios.  1752.  Vol.  IX.  app.  1S4.  Tab.  11 
12,13.  C.  Americanus,  major  articulatus,  Volk.  Hesp.  1.  133.  t.  134. 
Character.  Creeping,  with  about  five  angles.  Stem  cylindric,  branched; 
greenish  ;  angles  not  very  prominent;  spines  small,  clustered,  diverging. 
~l»ivers  lateral,  about  six  inches,  sometimes  near  a  foot  diameter,  ;wef: 


204  THE    BOTANIST. 

twenty  stamina  surrounding  one  pistilium.  The 
inside  of  the  calyx  is  a  splendid  yellow,  or  bright 

scented ;  calyx  large,  long,  tubular,  scaly  below,  composed  in  its  upper 
part  of  straight,  linear,  pointed,  yellowish  leaflets,  disposed  in  several  rows' 
and  forming  a  kind  of  ray  to  the  flower;  petals  white,  numerous,  lanceo- 
late, disposed  in  several  rows,  in  a  beautiful  rosaceous  form ;  style  a  little 
longer  than  the  stamens ;  stigma  with  twenty  divisions.  The  flowers  be- 
gin to  open  between  7  and  8  o'clock  in  the  evening,  usually  in  the 
month  of  July,  are  fully  blown  by  eleven,  and  by  three  or  four  in  the 
morning  they  begin  to  fade,  and  soon  after  to  hang  down  in  a  state  of 
irrecoverable  decay. 

Darwin's  "  refulgent  Cerea"  or,  as  the  flower  is  usually  called  ceres,  has 
no  allusion  to  the  heathen  goddess  of  that  name,  as  is  commonly  imagin- 
ed, but  derives  its  name  from  cera,  ivax,  from  the  resemblance  ot  the 
stems  to  bay  berry  wax.  Some  have  been  called  /orcA-thistles,  because 
the  natives  use  them  as  flambeaux ;  they  have  derived  their  name  of 
thistles,  from  their  numerous  spines  or  prickles. 

Of  the  opuntias,  Indian  figs,  or  prickly  pears,  there  is  one,  viz.  the  C. 
iplendidus,  worthy  particular  notice.  It  is  cultivated  at  Mexico  for  its  de- 
licious fruit.  Its  character  is  proliferously  articulate  ;  woody,  very  large, 
divisions  ample,  oblong,  glaucus ;  those  formed  in  the  first  years,  spin- 
ous ;  the  younger  ones  nearly  unarmed  :  spines  rigid  and  pungent.  It  is 
a  large  tree.  The  divisions  numerous,  thirty  inches  long;  from  twelve 
to  fifteen,  and  even  twenty  broad,  beset  with  tufts  of  stiff",  red  bristles 
which  are  very  pungent.  In  the  older  divisions  these  tufts  are  accom- 
panied by  three  spines  of  unequal  size,  very  strong  and  sharp  :  the  others 
have  rarely  more  than  one  or  two,  and  often  none.  The  beautiful 
glaucous  colour  of  this  species,  its  immense  size,  the  vigor,  and  richness 
of  its  vegetation,  with  the  number  and  amplitude  of  its  divisions,  render 
It  the  most  striking  and  most  magnificent  of  all  its  family,  and  give  it,  in 
Mons.  Thiery's  opinion,  a  just  right  to  the  epithet  superb. 

The  thirty-seventh  species,  viz.  C.  Nopal  of  Thiery,  is  the  true 
eochineaHndian  fig.  It  differs  from  the  splendidus  chiefly  in  colour.  Mons. 
Thiery  assures  us,  that  this  is  the  only  species  on  which  the  true  cochi- 
neal insect  is  bred  in  Mexico.  He  says  it  does  not  grow  wild  in  that 
country;  but  is  probably  some  unknown  species,  brought  by  cultivation 
to  its  present  state  of  perfection.  It  differs  from  the  C.  coccincllifer  of 
Linnaeus  andjother  botanists  in  being  always  found  with  long,  sharp  spines. 


THE    BOTANIST.  22£ 

sulphur  colour ;  the  petals  of  the  purest  white  > 
but  viewing  it  in  front,  so  as  to  look  into  its  deep 
bell,  whence  issues  its  long  trembling  stamina, 
baffles  all  description;  for  in  one  shade,  it  is  of 
an  aurora  color ;  viewed  in  another,  it  resembles 
the  blaze  of  burning  nitre ;  and  as  the  eye  plays 
over  it,  we  think  we  see,  at  times,  a  bright  reddish 
purple. 

We  may  remark  generally,  that  the  most  splen- 
did flowers  are  oi shortest  duration  :  thus  this  grand 
flower  expands  its  beautiful  corol,  and  diffuses  a 
most  fragrant  odour,  for  a  few  hours  in  the  night, 
then  closes  to  expand  no  more.  It  commonly 
opens  about  seven  or  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening 
usually  in  July  in  its  native  place  ;  but  later  in  Eng- 
land, and  in  this  country  ;  by  two  in  the  morning  it 
begins  to  wilt*  and  soon  after  to  fade,  droop,  and 

This  very  curious  family  of  plants  may  be  raised  without  much  dif- 
ficulty in  our  stoves  and  green  houses.  The  melon  thistle,  or  Turk's  cap,  may 
be  raised  from  seed,  sowed  in  pots  of  light  earth,  and  plunged  into  a  bed 
of  tanner's  bark.  These  plants  should  be  placed  on  the  top  of  the  flues 
of  the  hot-houses  in  winter;  and  in  the  bark  beds  in  summer. 

The  cereus,  or  torch  thistle,  is  raised  from  cuttings  placed  in  pots  filled 
with  light  earth,  a  little  sea  sand,  and  sifted  lime  rubbish,  and  then  placed 
in  a  bark  hot-bed  or  a  stove.  The  night  blowing  cereus  is  a  tender  plant, 
and  requires  a  warm  stove  to  protect  it.  The  opuntia,  or  Indian  figs,  are 
also  produced  from  cuttings, and  thrive  best  in  that  degree  of  heat  mark- 
ed temperate  on  botanical  thermometers.  See  on  these  various  subjects 
Sloane  Jam.  La  mark,  from  Plumier.  Jussieu.  Thiery's  de  Menonville. 
Nouv.  Encyclop  Miller's  Diet,  and  a  summary  from  them  all  in  the 
Cyclopedia,  art.  Cactus. 

*  The  author  has  v&ntured  to  use  here  a  word,  common  among  his 
countrymen,  expressive  of  that  state,  or  condition  of  a  plant  which  pre- 
cedes fading  and  withering.     To  fade   is  to  tend  from  a  brighter  to  » 

29 


226  THE    BOTANIST. 

wither ;  and  before  sun-rise  it  hangs  down  in  a  state 
of  irrecoverable  collapse  and  decay ;  and  the  next 
day  this  short  lived  belle  resembles  a  soaked  half 
grown  ear  of  Indian  corn.  The  first  time  the  Bot- 
anist gazed  at  this  transitory  beauty,  in  the  garden 
of  Fothergill,  and  saw  its  sudden  change,  it  was 
with  sensations  he  never  can  forget.  He  confesses 
that  in  the  vast  assemblage  of  flowers  that  adorn  the 
earth,  this  flaunting  beauty  caught  his  eye,  and  ex- 
cited strongly  his  youthful  admiration.  Well 
might  the  poetical  Darwin  say  of  his  "  refulgent 
Cereal 

Bright  as  the  blush  of  rising  morn  she  warns 
The  dull,  cold  eye  of  midnight  with  her  charms ; 
There  to  the  skies  6he  lifts  her  pencill'd  brows, 

weaker  colour.  To  wither  is  to  waste,  to  exsiccate,  to  become  sapless, 
shrink  and  wrinkle  :  and  to  have  lost  the  power  of  growth :  thus  Shake, 
speare ; 

«  When  I  have  pluck'd  the  rose 

"  1  cannot  give  it  vital  growth  again ; 

"  It  needs  mast  wither. 
Some  of  our  garden  vegetables,  the  beet  f»r  example,  will,  in  the  hot- 
test part  of  the  hottest  days  (thermometer  95  or  98°)  -wilt .-  its  leaves  will 
decline  from  an  erect  posture  to  a  horizontal  one ;  yet  will  it  not  change 
from  a  brighter  to'  a  weaker  colour,  which  is  fading;  neither  does  it  be- 
come juiceless,  and  wrinkled  which  is  withering,  or  verging  to  irrecover- 
able decay  ;  neither  do  we  undersiand  by  -wilting,  exactly  the  drooping  of 
a  plant,  which  is  figurative,  because  drooping  means  sorrowful,  and  there- 
fore derived  from  man  ;  and  when  we  apply  the  word  -wilting  to  man,  we 
use  it  fi  m-ativelv,  as  being  derived  from  the  condition  of  a  leaf  or  flower. 
We  therefore  say,  when  speak-n?  of  a  certain  condition  of  a  flower  or 
leaf  between  its  state  of  complete  mrgescence  and  utmost  vigour,  and  its 
destruction,  that  a  plant  -wilts,  fades,  droops,  withers  and  decays.  The  Bot- 
anist has  not  hesitated  in  adopting  a  term  that  has  merely  floated  on  the 
breath  of  the  people,  because  he  knows  no  other,  not  even  the  Latin 
ward  Jus,  that  so  exactly  expresses  his  meaning. 


THE    BOTANIST.  22: 

Ope's  her  fair  lips,  and  breathes  her  virgin  vows 
Eyes  the  white  zenith  ;  counts  the  suns  that  roll 
Their  distant  fires,  and  blaze  around  the  pole  ; 
Or  mark  where  Jove  directs  his  glittering  car 
O'er  heaven's  blue  vault, — herself  a  brighter  star ! 
Sweet  maid  of  night !  to  Cynthia's  sober  beams 
Glows  thy  warm  cheek,  thy  polish'd  bosom  gleams. 
In  crowds  around  thee  gaze  th'  admiring  swains, 
And  guard  in  silence  the  enchanted  plains ; 
Drop  the  still  tear,  or  breathe  th'  impassioned  sigh. 
And  drink  inebriate  rapture  from  thine  eye. 

All  this  is  the  rhapsody  of  youth,  when  the  nerves 
are  in  a  state  of  the  most  delicate  susceptibility ; 
and  when  every  fibre  vibrates  with  pleasure.   At  that 
period  of  high  excitement,  the  attention  is  engross- 
ed by  a   single  object.     An  animating  sun-shine 
then  varies  the  appearances  and  hues  of  things.— 
Not  so  the  man  of  age,   whose  indurated  nerves 
sluggishly  conduct  his  sensations  ;  in  whom  habit- 
ual gratifications  are  coolly  relished,  and  desires  are 
feebly  awakened.*     Such  is  the  difference  between 
youth  and  age,  in  our  perceptions  of  delicious  fruit, 
fragrant  smells,  smooth  glossy  surfaces,  vividness 
of  colours,  and  the  heavenly  sweetness  of  sounds  ! 
The  Botanist,  sobered  by  age,  cannot, — will  not  al- 
low the  flaunting    "  Ceres'''  to  rival  in  his  affections 
the  blushing  rose,  "  veil'd  in  a  cloud  of  fragrance," 
whose  qualities  are  often  disregarded,  because  com- 
mon.    Queen  of  flowers!  where  is  the  poet  that 
has  not  celebrated  thy  beauties  ?    where  the  painter 
that  has  not  aimed  to  imitate  thee  ?    and  who  that 

*   See  note,  p.  220. 


228  THE    BOTANIST. 

has  senses  does  not  wish  to  take  to  his  bosom 
"  the  fresh  blown  roses  wash'd  in  dew  ?"  Of  the 
beautiful  sex,  we  fondly  compare  the  most  beauti- 
ful to  flowers.  Were  I  then  to  renew  my  youth, 
and  to  live  over  again ;  and  were  I  disposed  to  ran- 
sack creation  for  a  comparison,  I  should  compare — 
But — why  this  vain  wish? — this  melancholy  re- 
flection ! 

"  No  more  the  summer  of  my  life  remains, 

"  My  autumn's  lengthening  evenings  chill  my  veins ! 

«  Down  the  bleak  stream  of  years, ■* 

«  Wing'd  on,  I  hasten  to  the  tomb's  repose ; 

"  The  port  whose  deep,  dark  bottom  shall  detain 

*  My  anchor,  never  to  be  weigh'd  again !" 


*  The  discontented  Camocns  adds  here  "  by  woes  on  woes." 


(J 


$NP   OF    tHB,    BOtAHlS*} 


THE 


PRINCIPLE  OF  VITALITY  : 

A 

DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED   IN    THE    FIRST    CHURCH    IN   BOSTON, 

TUESDAY,  JUNE  8,   1790, 

BEFORE    THE 
OF   THE 

COMMONWEALTH  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 


BY  B.  WATERHOUSE,  M.  D. 

Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Physic,  and  Lecturer 
on  Natural  History  in  the  University  at  Cambridge. 


OF  ALL  THE  POWERS  IN  NATURE,  HEAT  IS  THE  CHIEF. 

BACON. 


COMMONWEALTH  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

At  a  semiannual  meeting  of  the  Humane  Society,  held  in 
Boston,  June  8,  1790. 

Voted,  That  the  Honourable  the  President,  the 
Vice-President,  and  Monsieur  De  Letombe,  Consul  of 
France,  William  Tudor,  and  Loammi  Baldwin,  Esq'rs. 
be  a  committee  to  wait  on  Benjamin  Waterhouse,  Esq. 
M.  D.  and  return  him  the  thanks  of  this  society  for  his  in- 
genious Discourse  delivered  this  day,  and  to  request  of  him 
a  copy  for  the  press. 

Attest,  JOHN  AVERY,  jun.  Secretary. 


TO     THE 

HON.  JAMES  BOWDOIN,  LL,D.  F.R.S. 

&c.  &c.    &c. 
PRESIDENT  ; 

THE  HON.  THOMAS  RUSSELL,  ESQ. 

VICE-PRESIDENT  ; 
AND  THE  OTHER  TRUSTEES 

OF     THE 

HUMANE  SOCIETY 

OF     THE 

COMMONWEALTH  OF  MASSACHUSETTS, 

THIS   DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED    AT    THEIR    REQUEST, 

IS    MOST    RESPECTFULLY    DEDICATED, 
BY 

BENJAMIN  WATERHOUSE; 


PREFACE. 

This  Discourse  was  delivered  before  the  Humane  Society  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  more  than  twenty  years  ago. 

The  Society  took  its  origin  from  the  following  occurrences  : — In  the 
summer  of  1782,  a  number  of  young  persons  of  both  sexes  were  drowned 
in  the  harbour  of  Newport  Rhode-Island,  by  the  oversetting  of  a  pleasure 
boat.  Four  or  five  of  these  youug  people  were  taken  up  when  they  had 
been  not  more  than  ten  minutes  in  the  water,  and  yet  they  all  perished  ; 
for  there  was  no  mean  used  to  resuscitate  them.  Thereupon  the  Author 
published  in  the  Newport  Mercury  some  account  of  the  methods  prac- 
tised by  the  humane  societies  of  Europe  ;  and  exerted  himself  to  form 
one  at  Rhode-Island  ;  but  nothing  was  effected.  Three  years  after- 
wards, viz.  in  1785,  when  sailing  through  the  harbour  of  Newport 
with  the  celebrated  blind  philosopher,  Dr.  Henry  Moyes  of  Edinburgh, 
he  related  to  him  the  sad  accident,  and  lamented  that  we  had  no  humane 
50ciety  in  America  for  resuscitating  the  drowned  ;  and  the  ill  success 
he  experience  i  in  attempting  to  establish  one.  "  Do  not  be  discouraged," 
said  this  extraordinary  man  ;  "but  let  us  set  about  it  immediately  ; — this 
very  day."  We  accordingly  did  so  ;  and  by  the  help  of  his  intelligent 
serving  man,  who  was  a  good  ammuensis,  we  committed  to  paper  a  plan 
of  our  Humane  Society, and  took  it  with  us  to  Boston;  and  communicat- 
ed it  to  a  small  assemblage  of  professional  gentlemen  in  School-Street, 
whence  arose  The  Humane  Society  of  the  Common-wealth  of  Massachusetts,  which 
Was  incorporated  in  1791. 

In  organizing  this  new  society,  in  1785,  the  Author  discerned  a  mode 
of  preceeding  with  which  he  had  never  been  conversant ;  for  at  that  time, 
he  was  ignorant  even  of  the  meaning  of  the  word  "  caucus ;"  he  therefore 
declined  becoming  an  officer  of  it,  and  withdrew  from  the  association. 
In  the  year  1790  the  author  was  urged  to  rejoin  the  society  previously 
to  its  incorporation,  particularly  by  the  late  Governour  Boivdoin,  the  Hon. 
Thomas  Russell,  Bishop  Parker,  and  the  present  Reverend  and  worthy  Dr. 
Lathrop,  and  thereupon  he  was  appointed  to  deliver  a  Discourse  before 
them.  As  the  Author  accepted  this  task  more  in  compliance  with  the 
solicitations  of  his  very  honourable  and  reverend  friends,  than  real  incli- 
nation, so  he  protracted  the  composition  to  a  late  period  ;  and  this  he 
offers  as  an  apologv  for  its  containing  full  as  many  indications  of  reading 
as  traitr  of  originality. 

Cambridge,  July,  1811. 

30 


O  ART  !  thou  distinguishing  attribute  and  honour  of  hu» 
man  kind  !  Wide  and  extensive  is  the  reach  of  thy  dominion. 
No  Element  is  there  either  so  violent,  or  so  subtile,  so 
yielding  or  so  sluggish,  as  by  the  powers  of  its  nature  to  be 
superior  to  thy  direction.  Thou  dreadest  not  the  fierce  im- 
petuosity of  Fire,  but  compellest  its  violence  to  be  both 
obedient  and  useful.  Nor  is  the  subtile  Air  less  obedient  to 
thy  power,  whether  thou  wiliest  it  to  be  a  minister  to  our 
pleasure  or  utility.  Even  Water  itself  is  by  thee  taught  to 
bear  us  ;  the  vast  ocean  to  promote  that  intercourse  of  na- 
tions, which  ignorance  would  imagine  it  was  destined  to 
intercept 

Harris's  Dialogue  concerning  Art; 


discourse. 


Were  the  European  Philosopher  to  turn  his 
eyes  on  this  new  Empire,  to  see  in  what  order  and 
degree  those  dispositions  and  arts,  which  charact- 
erize polished  humanity,  arise  among  us,  he  would 
undoubtedly  perceive  that  the  extension  of  benev- 
olence has  kept  exact  pace  with  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge. 

Our  venerable  ancestors  early  sowed  the  seeds  of 
science  in  this  land  and  watched  their  growth  with 
pious  care  ;  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  discover  the 
diffusive  spirit  of  benevolence  following  every  where 
the  increasing  light  of  science. 

Without  being  particular  on  this  head,  one  in- 
stance of  it  honourable  to  humanity,  is  the  cordial 
adoption,  and  generous  support  given  to  this  Hu- 
mane Society,  which  is  formed  on  a  very  extensive 
scale  of  benevolence. 

I  decline  giving  a  history  of  this  or  similar  in- 
stitutions ;  nor  shall  I  descant  on  the  beneficial  in- 
fluence of  numerous  humane  associations,  which 
mark  and  dignify  the  age  in  which  we  live.     Suffice 


236  DISCOURSE, 

it  to  say,  that  the  success  attending  the  societies 
established  for  restoring  drowned  persons  at  Amster- 
dam, Hamburgh,  London,  Padua,  Vienna,  Paris, 
and  elsewhere,  induced  some  respectable  characters 
to  form  one  in  Boston.  But  they  have  gone  beyond 
the  European  societies,  and  have  extended  their 
plan  not  only  to  the  restoration  of  life,  when  ap- 
parently lost,  but  to  the  preservation  of  it  when  in 
imminent  danger.* 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  the  plan  of  this 
society  is  totally  void  of  all  private  interested  views. 
None  of  its  members  receive  any  other  recompence 
than  the  sublime  joy  of  doing  good. 

I  shall  avoid  speaking  of  any  particular  mode  of 
treating  persons  apparently  dead,  and  shall  confine 
myself  to  the  great  principle  of  Vitality,  An- 
imation, or  Life.  I  feel  the  difficulty  of  doing 
justice  to  so  copious  a  subject  in  the  short  space 
allotted  to  a  discourse. 

The  subject  of  animation  is  not  merely  curious, 
but  leads  to  usefulness.  It  has  arrested  the  atten- 
tion of  Philosophers  in  almost  every  age  of  the 
world.  Some  of  the  antients  reasoned  thus  on  it : 
Matter  of  itself  cannot  move,  yet  it  is  evident  all 
things  change,  and  that  nothing  is  lost  ;  that  the 
sum  total  of  matter  in  the  Universe  remains  perfect- 
ly the  same ;  and  as  it  was  the  work  of  Omnipo- 
tence to  create  something  out  of  nothing,  the  same 

*  By  constructing  huts,  or  small  houses,  on  the  sea  coast,  for  sheltering 
the  shipwrecked  sailor  in  the  severity  of  winter.     1811. 


DISCOURSE.  23? 

Omnipotence  is  required  to  reduce  any  thing  back 
to  nothing.*  It  is  apparent  that  there  is  an  univer- 
sal change,  or  mutation  of  all  things  into  all,  then 
must  there  be  some  one  primary  matter,  common 
to  all  things  out  of  which  they  were  made — They 
went  still  further,  and  enquired  into  the  moving 
principle,  the  efficient  cause,  that  is  to  say,  that  cause, 
which  associates  the  elements  of  natural  substances, 
and  which  employs  them  when  associated,  accord- 
ing to  their  various  and  peculiar  characters.!  This 
moving  principle  they  called  the  Anima  Mundi,  the 
Soul  of  the  World. 

Thales,  one  of  the  seven  wise  men  of  Greece, 
maintained,  that  Water  was  the  subtile  principle 
that  moved  all  things.  He  concluded  that  matter 
was  chiefly  dealt  -out  in  moisture  ;  that  the  seeds  of 
plants  so  long  as  they  are  in  a  growing  state,  are 
moist ;  and  that  a  vegetable  will  grow  to  a  consider- 
able size  from  water  alone  ;  that  the  Earth  is  re- 
freshed, recruited,  and  made  fruitful  by  water  : — that 
the  Air  itself  is  but  an  expansion,  or  expiration  of 
water.  He  reminds  us  of  the  immense  quantities  in 
the  subterraneous  regions,  whence  fountains,  and 
rivers,  like  so  many  veins  in  the  body,  convey 
water  over  the  surface,  and  through  the  bowels  of 
our  globe,  to  vivify  and  sustain  the  whole. 

Heraclitus  maintained  a  very  different  doc- 
trine.    He  taught  that  Fire  was  the  vivifying  princi 

*  See  Bacoo's  accounts  of  antient  opinions, 
f  See  Harris,  philos.  arrang. 


238  DISCOURSE. 

pie  of  all  things.  He  allowed  the  truth  of  Tholes' s 
doctrine,  but  observed  \hdXjire  had  such  an  univer- 
sal sway  in  nature,  that  water  itself  was  not  without 
a  mixture  of  it ;  for  that  water  grows  hard  and  con- 
geals into  ice  when  fire  leaves  it,  and  is  only  restor- 
ed to  its  fluidity  by  entering  it  again.  He  re- 
marked that  the  whole  mass  of  waters  in  the  sea, 
was  actually  an  ocean  of  fire,  seeing  there  were  not 
two  distinct  drops  of  water,  which  do  not  owe  their 
fluidity  to  some  portion  of  fire  enclosed  within  them. 
So  deeply  rooted  was  the  doctrine  that  fire  was  the 
first  or  animating  principle,  that  there  were,  and 
still  are  whole  nations  who  worship  it  as  a  Deity.* 

Anaximenes  contradicted  both  these  philos- 
ophers ;  and  contended  that  Air  was  the  vivifying 
principle  and  first  mover  of  all  things.  He  observ- 
ed that  although  the  water  of  Thales  could  not 
subsist  without  the  fire  of  Heraclitus,  yet  fire  itself 
could  not  exist  without  Air,  which  was  the  very 
spirit  of  flame,  and  the  breath  of  life  :  that  no  seed 
of  vegetables,  eggs  of  animals,  be  they  ever  so  ripe, 

*  That  venerable  sect  of  Philosophers,  the  Stoics,  taught  that  there  was 
ene  infinite,  eternal,  almighty  mind,  which,  diffused  through  the  whole 
universe  of  well  ordered  and  regularly  disposed  matter,  actuates  every 
part  of  it,  and  is  as  it  were  the  soul  of  this  vast  body.  The  parts  of  this 
bodv  they  say,  are  of  two  sorts,  viz.  the  Celestial,  as  the  planets  and  fixed 
stars  :  and  the  Terrestrial,  as  the  earth,  and  all  the  other  elements  about  it- 
The  celestial  continue  without  change,  or  variation.  But  the  whole 
sublunary  world,  is  not  only  liable  to  dissolution,  but  often  hath  been* 
and  shall  again  be  dissolved  by  fire  :  and  that  the  reciprocal  deaths,  dis- 
solutions and  digestions,  which  support  by  turns  all  the  substances  which 
we  see,  are  the  effects  of  fire. 

See  Creech's  preface  to  the  translation  of  C.MaHMVS. 


DISCOURSE.  239 

or  pregnant,  and  cherished  with  ever  so  kindly  a 
warmth,  will  ever  bring  forth  the  embryos  contain, 
ed  in  them,  if  they  be  totally  deprived  of  air.  We 
shall  see  hereafter  the  necessity  of  attending  to  these 
powerful  agents,  fire  and  air,  in  the  resuscitation  of 
those  apparently  dead  by  suspension,  submersion,  or 
frost. 

Let  us  now  examine  the  subject  of  animation  with 
the  light  afforded  us  by  more  modern  Philoso- 
phers. 

From  them  we  learn  that  matter  is  inert;  that  any- 
one particle  of  matter  left  to  itself  will  continue  al- 
ways in  the  same  state,  with  regard  to  its  motion  or 
rest.  There  are,  however,  certain  powers,  which 
two  particles  of  matter  have  of  acting  on  one  another, 
as  in  gravitation  and  cohesion.  We  learn  also  that 
there  is  an  attraction  of  crystallization,  by  which 
bodies  when  fluid  become  in  time  solid,  and  assume 
a  particular  figure  ;  that  there  is  an  attraction  of 
magnetism,  by  which  a  piece  of  iron,  in  certain  cir- 
cumstances, attracts  another  piece  of  iron  ;  that 
there  is  an  attraction  of  electricity,  by  which  a  sub- 
stance charged  with  more  electric  matter  flies  to  a- 
nother  charged  with  less.  There  is  moreover, 
chemical  attraction,  by  which  two  particles  of  dif- 
ferent bodies  rush  together,  and  form  one.  If  we 
add  that  most  of  these  have  their  opposite  repul- 
sions, we  can  say  that  they  are  all  the  known  prop- 
erties of  mere  matter ;  and  there  is  nothing  in  them 
that  can  merit  the  name  of  vitality. 


240  DISCOURSE. 

But  there  is  in  a  growing  vegetable  a  power  be- 
yond all  this,  viz.  a  power  which  first  moves,  and 
then  conducts  that  latent  process  by  which  a  seed 
becomes  a  plant. 

Now,  every  body  capable  of  growing,  has  a  cer- 
tain internal  adjustment,  disposition,  or  arrangement 
of  its  matter,  which  is  called  organization;  and  being 
capable  of  increasing  in  bulk,  has  a  certain  degree  of 
vitality.  There  is  a  scale  of  life,  stretching  in  uni- 
form gradation  from  human  excellence  downwards, 
till  it  disappears  in  a  shade  of  ambiguity,  in  the 
living  state  of  vegetables.*  Life,  says  the  Bishop  of 
Landaff,  belongs  alike  to  both  the  animal  and  veget- 
able kingdom ;  and  seems  to  depend  on  the  same 
principle  in  both.  Stop  the  motion  of  a  fluid  in  an 
animal  limb,  by  a  strong  ligature,  the  limb  mortifies 
beyond  the  ligature  and  drops  off ;  a  branch  of  a 
tree,  under  like  circumstances,  grows  dry  and  rots 
away. — Both  animals  and  vegetables  are  subject  to 
be  frost-bitten  and  to  consequent  mortifications  ; 
both  experience  extravasation  of  juices  from  reple- 
tion, and  pinings  from  inanition ;  both  can  suffer 
amputation  of  limbs  without  being  deprived  of  life, 
and  in  a  similar  manner  both  from  a  callus  ;  both 
are  liable  to  contract  disease  by  infection  ;  both  are 
strengthened  by  air  and  motion. 

Every  seed  of  a  Plant  is  an  organized  body  en- 
dowed with  vessels,  and  contains  under  several 
membranes  the  plant  in  minature.f     If  this  seed  be 

*  Brown. 

f  Look  at  the  engravings  in  Grezvs  anatomy  of  plonU. 


DISCOURSE.  241 

be  put  into  the  moist  earth  and  a  certain  degree  of 
heat  applied,  with  access  of  air,  the  three  principles 
of  the  undent  Philosophers,  the  juice  in  these  vessels 
will  expand  by  the  warmth  ;  and  being  thus  onee 
put  in  motion  gradually  increase,  and  grow  up  into 
a  plant ;  which  plant  produces  a  similar  seed  capable 
of  propagating  its  kind  forever. 

In  like  manner,  an  egg  is  an  organized  body, 
which  contains  under  several  envelopments  the 
chicken  in  miniature  ;  and  may  be  considered  as  a 
womb,  detached  from  the  body  of  the  parent  animal, 
in  which  the  embryo  is  just  beginning  to  be  form- 
ed ;  if  warmed  to  a  certain  degree,  whether  by  the 
parent  animal,  or  by  art,  the  fluids  which  surround 
that  speck  in  the  egg  called  the  punctum  vita,  ex- 
pand, and  the  little  vessels  swell  and  extend  them- 
selves ;  and  the  motion  or  oscillation  once  began,  it 
develops,  by  degrees,  until  it  becomes  a  perfect 
animal,  capable  of  all  the  functions  common  to  its 
kind. 

The  seed  of  the  vegetable,  and  the  egg  of  the 
animal  would  remain,  or  rather  become  effete  and  in- 
animate, unless  some  stimulus,  some  agent  from 
-without,  excited  or  began  a  motion  in  them.  But 
what  is  this  agent,  or  stimulus  ?  For  that  is  the 
question. 


This  stimulus,  or  animating  principle  in  a  natural 

body,  does  not  depend  on  its  organization,  nor  its 

figure,  nor  any  of  those  inferior  forms,  which  make 

up  the  system  of  its  visible  qualities  ;  but  it  is  the 

31 


242  DISCOURSE. 

power,  "  which  not  being  that  organization,  nor  that 
figure,  nor  those  qualities,  is  yet  able  to  produce,  to 
preserve,  and  to  employ  them.  It  is  therefore  the 
power,  which  departing,  the  body  ceases  to  live,  and 
the  members  soon  pass  into  putrefaction  and  decay."* 
From  an  attentive  observation  of  animated  nature, 
we  discover  that  life  is  caused,  and  continued  by 
something  which  acts  from  without ;  and  this  some- 
thing is,  as  far  as  we  can  discover,  heat,  acting  on 
the  seed  or  egg.f  I  say  heat,  according  to  the  com- 

•  Harris  Phil.  Arrang. 

t  DESCRIPTION    OF    A     HEN's   EGG  ;     WITH   THE    HISTORY   OF 
THE   GROWTH    OF    THE  ANIMAL   CONTAINED   IN    IT. 

Immediately  under  the  shell,  lies  that  common  membrane,  or  skin, 
which  lines  it  on  the  inside,  adhering  closely  to  it  every  where,  except 
at  the  broad  end,  where  a  little  cavity  is  left,  that  is  filled  with  air;  which 
increases  as  the  animal  within  grows  larger.  Under  this  membrane  are 
contained  two  -whites,  though  seeming  to  us  to  be  only  one;  each  wrap- 
ped up  in  a  membrane  of  its  own,  one  white  within  the  other.  They 
differ  from  each  other  in  specific  gravity.  In  the  midst  of  all  is  the  yoli, 
wrapt  round  likewise  with  its  own  membrane.  At  each  end  of  this  are 
two  ligaments,  called  chalaza,  which  are  white  dense  substances,  made  from 
the  membranes,  and  serving  to  keep  the  white  and  the  yolk  in  their 
places,    They  are  called  chalazx  from  their  resemblance  to  hail. 

The  cicatricula  is  the  part  where  the  animal  first  begins  to  shew  signs 
of  life ;  it  resembles  a  vetch  or  small  pea,  lying  on  one  side  of  the  yolk 
and  within  its  membranes.  The  outer  membranes  and  ligaments  pre- 
serve the  fluids  in  their  proper  places,  the  white  serves  as  nourishment ; 
and  the  yolk  with  its  membranes  after  a  time,  becomes  a  part  of  the 
chicken's  body.  This  is  the  description  of  the  bens  egg,  and  answers  to 
all  others,  ho?/  large  or  how  small  soever. 

Previously  to  putting  rhe  eggs  to  the  hen,  M '  Ipighi  and  Haller  first 
examined  this  cicatricula:  wheh  they  consider  as  the  most  important 
part  of  the  egg.  This,  which  some  call  the punctum  salient,  or  pvnetum  vi- 
f,e,  was  found  in  those  that  were  impregnated  by  the  male  to  be  large, 


DISCOURSE.  243 

mon  acceptation  of  the  term  :  but  to  speak  more 

philosophically,  it  is  that  subtile  electric  fluid,  which 

Jills  the  immense  space  of  the  whole  Universe,  per- 

but  in  others  small.  Upon  examination  with  the  microscope  it  was 
found  to  he  a  kind  of  hag,  containing  a  transparent  liquor,  in  the  midst 
of  which  the  embryo  was  seen.  The  embryo  resembled  a  composition  of 
little  threads,  which  the  warmth  of  future  incubations  tended  to  en- 
large. 

Upon  placing  the  egg  in  a  proper  warmth,  after  six  hours  the  vital 
speck  begins  to  dilate  like  the  pupil  of  the  eye.  The  head  of  the  chicken 
is  distinctly  seen,  with  the  back-bone  something  resembling  a  tadpole 
floating  in  its  ambient  fluid,  but  as  yet  seeming  to  assume  none  of  the 
functions  of  animal  life.  About  six  hours  more  the  little  animal  is  seen 
more  distinctly  ;  the  head  becomes  more  plainly  visible,  and  the  verte- 
bra of  the  back  more  easily  perceivable.  All  these  signs  of  preparation 
for  life  are  increased  in  six  hours  more;  and,  at  the  end  of  twenty-four 
the  ribs  begin  to  take  their  places,  the  neck  begins  to  lengthen,  and  the 
head  to  turn  to  one  side. 

At  this  time,  the  fluids  in  the  egg  seem  to  have  changed  places ;  the 
yolk  which  was  before  in  the  centre  of  the  shell,  approaches  nearer  the 
broad  end.  The  watery  part  of  rhe  white  is  diminished,  the  grosser  part 
sinks  to  the  small  end;  and  the  little  animal  appears  to  turn  towards  the 
part  of  the  broad  end  in  which  a  cavity  has  been  described,  and  with  its 
yolk  seems  to  adhere  t©  the  membrane  there 

At  the  end  of  forty  hours  the  great  work  of  life  seems  fairly  begun, 
and  the  animal  plainly  appears  to  move ;  the  back  bone  thickens ;  the 
first  rudiments  of  the  eyes  begin  to  appear ;  the  heart  beats,  and  the 
blood  begins  already  to  circulate.  The  parts,  however, as  yet  are  fluid* 
but,  by  degrees,  become  more  and  more  tenacious.  At  the  end  of  two 
days,  the  liquor  in  which  the  chicken  swims, seems  to  increase;  the  he-id 
appears  with  two  little  bladders  in  place  of  eyes  ;  the  heart  be»ts  in  the 
manner  of  every  embryo  where  the  blood  does  not  circulate  through  the 
lungs.  In  about  fourteen  hours  after  this,  the  chicken  is  grown  more 
ttrong ;  the  veins  and  arteries  begin  to  branch,  in  order  to  form  the 
brains ;  and  the  spinal  marrow  is  seen  stretching  along  the  back-bone. 
In  three  days,  the  whole  body  of  the  chicken  appears  bent;  the  head 
with  its  two  eye-balls,  with  their  different  humours,  now  distinctly  ap- 
pear; and  five  other  vesicles  are  seen,  which  soon  unite  to  form  the  ru- 
•iimcnU  of  the  brain.    The  out-lines  also  of  the  thighs,  and  wings,  begin 


/ 


244  DISCOURSE. 

vades  all  bodies,  and  actuates  every  particle  of  mat- 
ter.    Heat  is  only  one  effect  of  its  motion. 

to  be  seen,  and  the  body  begins  to  gather  flesh.  At  the  end  of  the  fourth 
day,  the  vesicles  that  go  to  form  the  brain  approach  each  other;  the 
wings  and  thighs  appear  more  solid ;  the  whole  body  is  covered  with  a 
jelly  like  flesh;  the  heart  that  was  hitherto  exposed,  is  now  covered  up 
within  the  body,  by  a  very  thin  transparent  membrane  ;  and  at  the  same 
time,  the  umbilical  vessels,  that  unite  the  animal  to  the  yolk,  now  appear 
to  come  forth  from  the  abdomen.  After  the  fifth  and  sixth  days  the  ves- 
sels of  the  brain  begin  to  be  covered  over;  the  wings  and  the  thighs 
lengthen ;  the  belly  is  closed  up,  and  turned  ;  the  liver  is  seen  within  it, 
very  distinctly,  not  yet  grown  red,  but  of  a  dusky  white  ;  both  the  ven- 
tricles of  the  heart  are  discerned,  as  if  they  were  two  separate  hearts, 
beating  distinctly  ;  the  whole  body  of  the  animal  is  covered  over,  and  the 
traces  of  the  incipient  feathers  are  already  to  be  seen.  The  seventh  day 
the  head  appears  very  large  ;  the  brain  is  entirely  covered  over ;  the 
bill  begins  to  appear  betwixt  the  eyes,  and  the  wings,  the  thighs,  and 
the  legs,  have  acquired  their  perfect  figure.  Hitherto,  however,  the  an- 
imal appears  as  if  it  had  two  bodies ;  the  yolk  is  joined  to  it  by  the  um- 
bilical vessel  that  comes  from  the  belly;  and  is  furnished  with  its  vessels, 
through  which  the  blood  circulates,  as  through  the  rest  of  the  body  of 
the  chicken,  making  a  bulk  greater  than  that  of  the  animal  itself.  But 
towards  the  end  of  incubation,  the  umbilical  vessel  shortens  the  yolk,  and 
with  it  the  intestines  are  thrust  up  into  the  body  of  the  chicken  by  the 
action  of  the  muscles  of  the  belly,  and  the  two  bodies  are  thus  formed  in- 
to one.  During  this  state,  all  the  organs  are  found  to  perform  their  se- 
cretions; the  bile  is  found  to  be  separated,  as  in  grown  animals  ;  but  it 
is  transparent,  and  without  bitterness;  the  chicken  then  also  appears  to 
have  lungs.  On  the  tenth,  the  muscles  of  the  wings  appear,  and  the 
feathers  begin  to  push  out.  On  the  eleventh,  the  heart  which  hitherto 
had  appeared  divided,  begins  to  unite,  the  arteries  which  belong  to  it 
join  into  it,  like  the  fingers  into  the  Dalm  of  the  hand.  All  these  appear- 
ances, come  more  into  view,  because  the  fluids  the  vessels  had  hitherto 
secreted,  were  more  transparent;  but  as  the  colour  of  the  fluids  deepen, 
their  operations  and  circulations  are  more  distinctly  seen.  As  the  animal 
thus,  by  the  eleventh  day,  completely  formed,  begins  to  gather  strength, 
it  becomes  more  uneasy  in  its  situation,  and  exerts  its  animal  powers  with 
increasing  force.    For  some  time  before  it  is   able  to  break  the  shell  in 


DISCOURSE.  245 

In  whatever  manner  a  susceptible,  or  irritable 
body  is  operated  upon  by  this  exciting  power,  a  cer- 
tain quantity  of  it,  or  a  certain  energy,  is  assigned 
and  belongs  to  every  individual  system  upon  the 
commencement  of  its  living  state.* 

Now  a  living  animal  has,  besides  those  attributes 
common  to  all  bodies,  as  solidity,  extension  and 
gravity,  a  peculiar  something,  which  distinguishes  it 
from  a  dead  one  ;  for  a  muscular  fibre  will  contract, 
and  that  not  by  the  power  of  gravitation,  cohesion^ 
crystallization,   magnetism,  or  chemical  attraction. 

That  state  of  an  animal  fibre  in  which  a  contrac- 
tion, or  oscillation,  is  produced  by  the  influx  or  con- 

which  it  is  imprisoned,  it  is  heard  to  chirrup,  receiving  a  sufficient  quantity 
«f air  for  this  purpose,  from  that  cavity  which  lies  between  the  membrane 
and  the  shell,  and  which  must  contain  air  to  resist  the  external  pressure. 
At  length  upon  the  20th  day,  in  some  birds  sooner,  and  later  in  others, 
the  enclosed  animal  breaks  the  shell  within  which  it  has  been  confined, 
with  its  beak;  and  by  repeated  efforts, at  last  procures  its  enlargement. 

From  this  history  we  perceive,  that  those  parts  which  are  most  con- 
ducive to  life,  are  the  first  that  are  begun ;  the  head  and  the  back-bone, 
which  no  doubt  enclose  the  brain,  and  the  spinal  marrow,  though  both 
are  too  limpid  to  be  discerned,  are  the  first  that  are  seen  to  exist ;  the 
beating  of  the  heart  is  seen  soon  after  ;  the  less  noble  parts  seem  to  spring 
from  these,  the  wings,  the  thighs,  the  feet,  and  lastly  the  bill.  The  re- 
semblance between  the  beginning  animal  in  the  egg,  and  the  embryo  in 
the  womb,  is  very  striking.  An  egg  may  be  considered  as  a  womb,  de- 
tached from  the  body  of  the  parent  animal,  in  which  the  embryo  is  but 
just  beginning  to  be  formed.  It  may  be  regarded  as  a  kind  of  incom- 
plete delivery,  The  similitude  between  the  e?g  and  the  embryo  in  the 
womb  has  induced  many  to  assert  (and  with  great  probability)  that  all 
animals  are  produced  from  eggs 

Goldsmith's  HUtory  of  the  Earth  and  Animated  Nature,  Vol.  II.  See 
also  Malpighi,  Haller,  Graff,  and  Burton. 

*  Brown. 


246  DISCOURSE. 

tact  of  a  stimulus,  is  called  irritability,  or  susceptibili- 
ty, and  excitability. 

That  principle  in  animals,  on  which  sensation, 
motion,  and  all  the  animal  powers  depend,  is  called 
the  Vis  Vitalis. 

By  the  action  of  stimuli  on  the  solids,  particular- 
ly heat,  the  vis  vitalis  is  excited  and  preserved  ; 
when  diminished  it  may  be  increased,  and  when 
suspended  it  may  be  restored. 

Within  every  one  of  us,  there  is  an  innate  and 
active  power,  which  ceases  not  its  work,  when  sense 
and  appetite  are  asleep  ;  which  without  any  con- 
scious co-operation  of  the  man  himself,  carries  him 
from  a  seed  or  embryo,  to  his  destined  magnitude. 
This  is  strictly  speaking  the  Animal  (Economy,  and 
is  as  perfect  in  the  brutal  Hottentot,  as  in  the 
brightest  genius  of  human  kind. 

All  this  depends  on  a  principle  which  some  call 
the  Vis  Actuosa,  others  the  Impetum  Faciens.  This 
power  is  innate,  and  is  that  by  which  man  lives  ;  it 
forms  him,  it  nourishes  him,  moves  him,  animates 
him.  By  it  he  feels,  he  desires,  refuses,  sleeps  and 
wakes  ;  nevertheless,  it  is  totally  different  from  the 
Mind ;       For, 

In  our  bodies  is  found  something  of  quite  a  dif- 
ferent nature  from  what  has  been  mentioned  ;  a 
power  of  thinking,  reflecting,  comparing,  choosing, 
and  representing  to  itself  past,  present  and  to  come. 
This  power  in  relation  to  its  several  operations,  is 
termed  comprehension,  understanding,  reason,  mind, 
will,  freedom,  or  collectively,  by  the  single  word 


DISCOURSE.  247 

Soul.*    But  to  return  to  the  innate  principle  of 
animation  in  man. 

Every  body  knows  that  although  the  child  is 
formed,  and  lives,  and  grows,  and  moves  in  the 
womb  of  its  mother,  it  never  breathes  there.  It  re- 
ceives its  animating  principle,  its  heat,  motion  and 
life,  from  the  mother,  by  a  nerve  and  artery,  which 
enters  at  its  navel  and  conveys  the  blood  to  the  heart 
of  the  infant,  without  ever  passing  through  the  lungs. 
The  blood  in  this  case  goes  directly  on  through  the 
body  of  the  heart,  by  an  opening  called  the  Foramen 
Ovale,  and  from  thence  to  the  Aorta,  or  great  artery, 
by  which  it  is  driven  to  every  part  of  its  body  ;  so 
that  the  circulation,  nutrition  and  life,  are  kept  up 
with  the  mother,  as  if  they  were  not  two  bodies  but 
one.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  fruit  of  vegetables  is, 
in  like  manner,  nourished,  and  supported  by  a 
slender  stalk  issuing  froiv  the  parent  stock. 

When  the  child  is  born  it  becomes  dependent  on 
a  new  principle  for  the  continuance  of  its  existence. 
When  it  passes  from  the  watery  habitation  into  the 
atmosphere,  a  new  determination  takes  place ;  and 
instead  of  the  umbilical  cord  from  the  mother,  the 
common  air  becomes  the  main-spring  of  all  its 
actions  and  functions.  When  the  child  opens  its 
mouth  to  cry,  in  rushes  the  air,  and  expands  the 
lungs.  The  blood,  which  had  hitherto  passed 
through  the  heart,  now  takes  a  wider  circuit,  and  the 
Jbramen  ovale  closes  forever.  The  lungs  which  had, 
till  this  time,  been  inactive,  now  first  begin  their 

*  See  Hexpert, 


248  DISCOURSE. 

functions,  and  they  cease  not  their  motion  as  long 
as  life  continues. 

Hence  then  it  appears,  that  next  to  the  expanding 
power  of  heat,  Respiration,  or  breathing  is  the 
primum  mobile  in  the  human  machine. 

Atmospheric  air  contains  a  certain  vivifying 
spirit,  which  is  necessary  to  continue  the  lives  of 
animals,  and  this,  in  a  gallon  of  air,  is  said  to  be^ 
sufficient  for  one  man  during  the  space  of  a  minute, 
and  not  much  longer.  Air  that  has  lost  this  vivify- 
ing spirit,  deadens  fire,  extinguishes  flame,  and  de- 
stroys life.* 

It  is  well  known  that  there  is  a  set  of  vessels  in  the 
lungs  which  contain  air,  and  another  which  contain 
blood. 

The  air  in  the  lungs  is  in  constant  motion ;  for 
either  that  which  is  at  present  contained  in  the  cells, 
is  passing  through  the  wind-pipe  into  the  atmo- 
sphere; or  a  fresh  parcel  is  passing  from  the  external 
atmosphere  through  the  wind-pipe  into  those  cells. 
The  whole  of  this  compound  motion  is  called 
JRespiration.f 

If  the  air  continue  at  rest  in  the  lungs  for  many 
minutes  ;  or  if  a  man  continue  to  respire  the  same 
air  ;  or  if  he  breathe  air  that  has  served  for  the  in- 
flammation of  fuel ;  or  pure  fixable  air,  or  any  other 
vapour,  excepting  respirable  air,  he  diesf . 

From  the  organs  of  respiration ;  or  rather  from 
what  may  be  called  the  sy sterna  spirituale  pneumo- 

*  Ferguson.  f  Fordyce. 


DISCOURSE.  249 

nician,  all  the  actions  of  the  body,  and  all  the  power 
which  it  exerts  are  ultimately  derived. 

It  appears  from  a  train  of  experiments,  that  the 
common  air  communicates  a  vivifying  something  to 
the  blood,  when  drawn  into  the  lungs,  and  gives  to 
it  a  stimulating  quality,  by  which  it  is  fitted  to  ex- 
cite the  heart  to  action;  and  that  the  chemical 
quality,  which  the  blood  acquires  in  passing  through 
the  lungs,  is  necessary  to  keep  up  the  action  of  the 
heart,  and  consequently  the  health  of  the  animal. 
For  no  sooner  are  the  lungs  quiescent  than  the  heart 
ceases  to  contract,  the  blood  stops,  all  the  intellectual 
operations  cease,  sensation  and  voluntary  motion 
are  suspended,  and  all  external  signs  of  life  disap- 
pear. All  which  are  admirably  explained  by  Dr. 
Edmund  Goodwin.* 

When  the  fluids  in  the  human  machine  are  thus 
at  rest,  what  do  we  see  ? — a  mere  carcase — We  see 
the  person  dead  !  f  But  after  what  manner  ? 
Here  are  all  the  solids,  and  all  the  fluids  too.  What 
then  is  lacking  ?  A  gentle  oscillation,  or  motion  of 
the  fluids,  a  circumgyration  of  the  liquors  ;  for  let 
there  be  by  what  means  soever  an  oscillation,  a  con- 

*  See  his  experimental  Enquiry,  &c. 
f  There  are  several  instances   of  people  buried  alive,  even  in  this 
country. 

Oh  reader  !  — —  But  that  I  am  forbid 

To  tell  the  secrets  of  the  prison-house,  i 

I  could  a  tale  unfold,  whose  lightest  word 

Would  harrow  up  thy  soul,  freeze  thy  young  blood, 

Make  thy  two  eyes,  like  stars,  start  from  their  spheres. 

\  The  Grave. 
32 


250  DISCOURSE. 

cussion,  or  excitement  of  the  nervous  energy,  which 
may  impel  the  fluids  to  move  the  lungs  and  heart, 
life  immediately  returns,  with  the  usual  circulation 
of  the  blood  and  other  fluids,  heat,  colour,  agility, 
cogitation,  and  every  vital,  natural,  and  human 
action. 

If  it  be  asked,  what  is  that  vivifying  something 
which,  through  the  medium  of  the  atmosphere,  gives 
this  oscillation  or  concussion,  and  continues  life  ? 

I  answer  ;  it  is  a  portion  of  that  subtile  electric 
fluid,  which  fills  the  immense  space  of  the  whole  uni- 
verse, pervades  all  bodies,  and  actuates  every  par- 
ticle of  matter.  By  it  the  phenomena  of  magnetism, 
fire,  and  light  are  produced  ;  and  on  it  the  various  and 
astonishing  phenomena  of  Vegetation  and  An- 
imation depend.  If  it  be  asked  further,  what  and 
where  is  the  source  of  this  all  powerful  agent  ?  I 
answer,  the  Sun  is  the  efficient  cause  of  the  motions 
of  this  fluid,  and  the  various  phenomena  of  our  system 
are  the  effects  of  these  motions. 

Soul  of  surrounding  worlds  ! 
Without  whose  quickning  glance,  this  cumbrous  earth 
Would  be  a  lifeless  mass,  inert  and  dead, 
And  not,  as  now,  the  green  abode  of  life.* 

I  am  aware  that  analogical  arguments  are  proba- 
ble, but  not  conclusive  ;  and  that  plausible  inferences 
from  well  known  facts  in  brutes,  have  occasioned 
many  errors  respecting  man.  Yet  I  cannot  but  be- 
lieve from  what  we  observe  in  the  resuscitation  of 

*  Thomson's  summer. 


DISCOURSE.  251 

swallows,  after  lying  four  months  in  the  bottom  of 
a  pond ;  of  snakes  frozen  stiff  as  a  stick  ;  of  flies  cork- 
ed up  in  a  bottle  of  Madeira  in  Virginia,  and 
brought  to  life  again  in  Great-Britian  ;  f  I  say,  I 
cannot  help  believing  from  these  and  similar  facts, 
that  it  is  possible  to  restore  to  life  a  human  being 
who  has  been  frozen  some  days.  We  have  well 
authenticated  accounts  of  not  only  birds  frozen  to 
death  (as  it  is  called)  but  of  the  human  species  too, 
who  were  even  for  days,  without  pulse,  breathing, 
or  the  least  natural  heat,  and  yet  resuscitated.* 

In  this  case,  the  application  of  heat  should  be 
conducted,  says  Dr.  Goodwin,  on  the  same  plan, 
which  nature  points  out  for  the  hybernating,  or 
torpid  animal  ;  that  is  to  say  ;  it  should  be  applied 
gradually  and  uniformly.  It  may  be  raised  to  98 
degrees  of  Farenheit,  but  not  above  100.  To  blow 
one's  own  breath  into  the  lungs  of  another,  is  an 
absurd  and  pernicious  practice. 

The  consideration  of  the  facts  just  related,  have 
led  some  to  conceptions  of  the  Soul,  which  have 
puzzled  them,  and  created  doubts  rather  unfavour- 
able to  the  opinions  entertained  by  the  majority  of 
christians.  "  What  is  the  condition,  say  they,  of 
the  soul  all  this  time." — In  animal  bodies  there  are 
only  two  general  conditions,  life  and  death  ;  and  if 
by  death  we  understand  the  privation  of  life,  there 
can  be  no  intermediate  state  between  them,   says 

f  See  Dr.  Franklin's  letter  to  Mons.  Dubourg. 

*  See  the  writings  of  Rdi  and  IVbytts.    The  Flora  Siberica.    Also  Peyer 
aaatom. 


252  DISCOURSE. 

Dr.  Goodwin ;  for  no  human  art  can  communicate 
life  to  dead  matter.  Dr.  Whytte  thinks  it  is  not 
only  probable,  but  even  demonstrable,  that  the  soul 
does  not  immediately  leave  the  body  upon  a  total 
stoppage  of  the  heart's  motion,  and  of  the  circula- 
tion of  the  blood,  that  is,  upon  what  we  usually  call 
death,  but  that  it  continues  for  some  time  at  least 
present  with  it,  and  ready  to  actuate  it.  He  thinks, 
with  Gassendi,  Dr.  H.  More,  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
Dr.  S.  Clarke,  and  some  other  of  the  greatest 
philosophers  of  the  last  and  present  age,  that  the 
soul  is  extended. 

The  apparently  dead  carcase,  therefore,  which  has 
lain  three  or  four  hours  under  water,  is  as  much 
alive  as  a  sound  hen's-egg  ;  *  they  would  both 
putrify  and  dissolve  if  let  alone  ;  but  apply  a  due 
and  uniform  degree  of  heat  to  either,  and  you 
change  the  seemingly  dead  body  into  a  live  and  ac- 
tive animal. 

The  union  of  soul  with  body,  is  the  most  ab- 
struse contemplation  that  can  exercise  the  mind  of 
man.  "  How  is  it  that  one  painful  idea  alters  the 
course  of  the  blood  !  Who  can  explain  how  the 
blood  in  return,  carries  its  irregularities  to  the  mind  ! 
What  incomprehensible  mechanism  has  subjected 
the  organs  to  sentiment  and  thought  !  What,  says 
Voltaire,  is  that  unknown  fluid,  which  is  quicker  and 
more  active  than  light,  and  flies  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye,  through  all  the  channels  of  life;  produces  memo- 
ry, sorrow  or  joy,  reason  or  frenzy,  recalls  with  hor- 

*  See  page  242. 


DISCOURSE.  253 

ror  what  one  would  wish  to  forget,  and  makes  of  a 
thinking  being,  an  object  of  admiration,  or  a  sub- 
ject of  pity  and  tears  !" 

The  intellectual  scheme,  says  the  author  of 
Hermes,  which  never  forgets  Deity,  postpones 
every  thing  corporeal  to  the  primary  mental 
cause.  It  is  here  it  looks  for  the  origin  of  in- 
telligible ideas,  even  of  those,  which  exist  in  hu- 
man capacities.  For  though  sensible  objects  may 
be  the  destined  medium,  to  awaken  the  dormant 
energies  of  man's  understanding,  yet  are  those 
energies  themselves,  no  more  contained  in  sense, 
than  the  explosion  of  a  cannon  in  the  spark  which 
gave  it  fire. 

This  then,  like  all  other  sound  philosophy,  leads 
us  at  last,  up  to  the  great  first  cause,  the  ens 

ENTIUM,  the     SUPREME     AUTHOR     OF    ALL,  who  is 

ever  to  be  adored  with  the  most  profound  reverence 
by  the  reasonable  part  of  this  creation.* 

*  It  would  seem  that  the  Parent  of  Universal  Nature  has  ordained,  that  to 
a  certain  degree  of  exquisite  organization  the  soul  should  adhere  ;  for  be- 
tween organization  and  function  there  exists  a  connexion  proportioned 
and  inseparable.  When  that  subtile  organization  is  ruined,  the  soul  flies 
back  again,  like  quenched  fire,  to  the  source  whence  it  came.  If  so,  then 
are  not  our  bodies  vessels,  immersed  in  the  vivifying  spirit,  the  "  anima 
mundi  ?"  If  the  materials,  which  compose  these  vessels  be  arranged  after 
a  certain  manner,  life,  or  the  spirit  adheres  to  us.  If  the  vessel  is  cracked, 
to  a  certain  degree,  it  can  hold  no  water.  If  the  body  be  to  a  certain  de- 
gree marred,  it  can  hold  no  life.  If  the  deranged  organization  banish 
life,  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  as  in  persons  who  have  lain  that  time 
under  water ;  and  if,  by  communication  of  warmth,  and  agitation  of  the 
lungs,  and  of  the  heart,  life  should  be  restored,  what  shall  we  say  then  ? 
where  ?  and  in  what  state  was  the  soul,  or  immortal  part  ?  We  can  only 
aav.that  being  still  immersed  in  the  anima  mundi,  the  body  is  rendered,  by 


254-  DISCOURSE. 

Thus  much  towards  investigating  the  important 
subject  of  ■■'■  italitij  or  Animation.  The  narrow  limits 
of  a  discourse  prevent  my  pursuing  the  matter 
further  at  this  time.  I  pass  on  to  a  more  general 
and  pleasant  theme,  the  Progress  of  Humanity. '  Per- 
haps we  may  discover  the  causes  which  produced 
that  spirit  of  benevolence,  which  gave  birth  to  this 
society. 

It  is  very  common  to  praise  antient  times  and 
condemn  our  own  ;  yet,  if  we  cast  our  eyes  back 
on  the  history  of  mankind,  the  view  will  shock  us. 
Of  six  and  twenty  centuries,  wherein  the  memory 
and  learning  of  mankind  have  been  exercised,  scarce- 
ly six  can  be  culled  out  as  fertile  in  the  sciences,  or 
favourable  to  humanity  !  *     On  a  modest  computa- 
tion, the  destruction  of  the  human  race  in  building 
up  tyranny  by  Sesostris,  by  Semiramis,  by  Xerxes, 
by  Alexander,  the  Romans,  the  Sicilians,  by  Mithra- 
dates,  the  Goths  and  Vandals,  the  Crusaders,  and  by 
the  Spaniards  in  Mexico  and  Peru,  amount  to  forty 
times  the  number  of  mankind  now  on  the  face  of 
the  earth. 

the  means  used,  capable  of  imbibing  again  the  needful  portion  of  that 
spirit  in  which  "  we  live,  move,  and  have  our  being."  I  say,  imbibing 
again ;  for  in  the  beginning  "  He  breathed  into  man  the  breath  of  life,  and  the 
consequence  was,  "  he  became  a  living  toul." 

We  are  confident  that  there  is  something  in  us  that  can  be  without  us. 
and  will  be  after  us ;  what  it  was  before  us  we  know  not  ;  nor  can  we 
tell  how  it  entered  us.  Thus  Cicero,  who  wrote  before  life  and  immortal- 
ity were  brought  to  light  by  the  gospel,  says  "  Quidquid  est  Mud  quod  sentit, 
quod  sapit,  quod  vult,  quod  wget,  caleste  et  divinum  est ;  ob  eamque  rem  aternum 
:it  necesse  est" 

*  See  Novum  organum.  Bacon. 


DISCOURSE.  255 

The  Roman  name  strikes  us  with  such  venera- 
tion, that  we  are  apt  to  include  humanity  among 
their  virtues.  But  the  most  celebrated  virtue  of  the 
most  renowned  Roman  would  pass  without  much 
eulogium  in  this  day.  The  truth  is,  their  natural 
roughness  of  temper,  their  adoration  of  Victoria, 
that  Deity  so  dear  to  the  Romans,  made  them  neglect 
and  trample  upon  their  fellow  men,  whom  they  scarce- 
ly distinguished  from  brutes.*  And  when  the  glory, 
greatness,  strength,  and  learning  of  that  famous 
people  were  extinguished,  and  when  their  Empire 
was  finally  overturned,  the  cause  of  humanity  was 
still  less  regarded. 

It  was  worse,  when  a  northern  swarm  of  barba- 
rians, the  Goths,  quitting  their  inhospitable  regions 
spread  through  the  more  fertile  parts  of  the  world, 
and  extinguished  the  small  light  of  learning  which 
remained.! 

And  when  Mahomet  and  his  successors  carried 
their  victories,  with  the  rapidity  of  a  torrent,  over 
most  parts  of  Asia,  Africa,  through  Persia,  Arabia, 
Egypt,  and  Palestine,  they  completed  the  destruc- 
tion the  Goths  began. 

When  the  barbarians  embraced  Christianity,  they 
made  it  bend  to  their  prejudices,  rather  than  sub- 
ject  their  prejudices  to  its  principles;  and  from  the 
mixture  of  Christianity  with  the  antient  customs  of 
barbarians  sprang  a  discord  in  manners.  From  a 
mixture  of  the  rights  of  sovereigns  with  those  of 

•  Millot.  f  Boerhaave's  Academ.  Le.-. 


256  DISCOURSE. 

the  nobility,  and  of  the  priesthood,  sprang  a  dis- 
cord in  politics  and  government.  And  from  a 
mixture  of  the  Pagans  and  Mahometans  with  the 
Christians,  sprang  a  discord  in  religion.  Anarchy 
and  confusion  were  the  consequences  of  so  many 
contrasts : — Europe  was  one  large  field  of  battle, 
and  ignorance  and  brutal  force  quenched  almost 
every  ray  of  knowledge,  while  the  noble  faculties 
of  the  soul  were  absorbed  by  fear.* 

The  extension  of  benevolence,  keeps  exact  pace 
with  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  and  the  exertions 
of  the  one  are  circumscribed  by  the  limits  of  the 
other. 

Whenever  the  Parent  of  universal  Nature 
chooses  to  make  a  mighty  change  in  the  affairs  of 
men,  he  seems  to  effect  it  by,  what  we  call,  mean 
and  humble  instruments. 

Two  seemingly  inglorious  mechanical  discove- 
ries, changed  the  face  of  the  world  more  than  any 
conqueror,  sect,  or  empire  ever  did.  I  mean  the 
mariner'' s  compass,  and  the  art  of printing. ,f  These 
inventions  gradually  banished  barbarism,  and  hu- 
manized the  world.  The  antients  were  acquaint- 
ed with  but  a  very  small  part  of  the  globe.  They 
called  all  the  northern  nations,  Scythians,  and  all 
the  western,  Celt a,  indiscriminately.  They  had 
no  knowledge  of  Africa  beyond  the  nearest  part  of 
Mthiopia  ;  nor  of  Asia  beyond  the   Ganges ;   and 

•  See  Robertson,  Cli.  v.  and  Millot's  Element,  of  Gen.  Hist 
f  See  Novum  Organ. 


DISCOURSE.  257 

as  for  our  quarter  of  the  world,  America,  they  had 
not  even  a  tradition  about  it.f 

Commerce  is  a  cure  for  the  most  destructive  pre- 
judices. It  has  every  where  diffused  a  knowledge 
of  the  manners  of  all  nations.  The  multiplication 
of  books  by  the  art  of  printing,  and  of  drawings 
and  pictures  by  the  art  of  engraving,  produced  a 
radiance  of  knowledge  that  made  tyranny  tremble ; 
and  will  effectually  secure  the  human  race  from 
those  horrid  shocks  of  barbarism  and  tyranny,  that 
once  nearly  laid  waste  the  old  world.  The  mari- 
ner*'s  compass  then  opened  the  universe,  and  print- 
ing  displayed  it. 

At  this  time,  superstition,  and  an  odious  ecclesi- 
astical despotism,  received  a  fatal  wound.  Astro- 
nomical improvements,  by  discovering  worlds  be- 
sides our  own,  expanded  the  human  mind.  So 
that  when  the  Christian  religion  began  again  to  be 
taught  in  its  purity,  the  universe  seemed  to  extend 
itself  to  do  it  homage.  Then  did  Knowledge 
raise  weeping  Humanity  from  the  dust,  and 
point  with  her  blazing  torch  the  way  to  happiness 
and  pe as  !  Then  did  Religion,  instead  of  dag- 
gers, racks,  and  fetters,  wear  upon  her  graceful 
brow  thi;>  everlasting  motto,  "  My  ways  are  ways 
"  of  'pleasantness,  and  all  my  paths  are  peace  " 

Need  l  say  a  word  to  prove  to  such  an  audience 
as  this,  that  the  present  prevailing  spirit  of  benevo- 
lence is  principally  owing  to  the  diffusion  of  a  re- 

f  Bacon. 

33 


258  DISCOURSE. 

ligion,  as  much  above  all  others,  as  heaven  is  above 
the  earth  ?  Let  him  who  doubts,  compare  it  with 
the  next  best  system  the  world  ever  possessed. 
Did  not  Moses  bring  famine  and  other  plagues  on 
the  Egyptians  ?  Elijah  deprived  the  earth  of  rain, 
and  destroyed  with  fire  those  who  opposed  him  ; 
as  did  Elisha  those  who  mocked  him.  Did  not 
David  kill  and  curse  those  he  hated  or  envied? 
But  the  Founder  of  the  religion  of  humanity 
came  without  judgement,  anger,  or  revenge.  All 
his  transactions  were  for  the  benefit  of  man.  He 
allayed  the  winds  which  threatened  destruction  to 
the  mariners ;  he  restored  limbs  to  the  lame,  sight 
to  the  blind,  speech  to  the  dumb,  clean  flesh  to  the 
leprous,  a  sound  mind  to  the  insane,  and  life  to  the 
dead.\  All  his,  were  works  of  beneficence,  diffus- 
ing charity  and  good  will  to  men,  accompanied  too, 
with  a  spirit  so  sublime  and  friendly,  that  the  hu- 
man heart,  with  unbidden  veneration,  bows  down 
before  it. 

While  we  consider  this  Humane  Society  as  a 
stream  deriving  its  source  from  the  inexhaustible 
"  River  of  Joy,''''  the  ministers  of  religion  may  be 
considered  its  principal  guardians.  They  have 
been  its  chief  supporters ;  and  so  long  as  they  con- 
tinue to  inculcate  the  precepts  of  the  religion  of 
humanity,  with  that  benevolent,  gentle,  pious,  char- 
itable, tolerating  spirit,  which  so  eminently  distin- 

f  See  Bacon's  Essays. 


DISCOURSE  259 

guishes  those  before  whom  I  now  speak,  they  will 
be  regarded  among  its  brightest  ornaments* 

Then  will  Charity,  that  bright  constellation  of 
christian  virtues,  always  be  present  with  us  ;  under 
whose  fostering  influence,  we  hope,  this  yet  infant 
society,  this  standing  committee  of  humanity,  will 
extend,  so  far  and  wide,  its  salutiferous  effects,  that 
future  generations  will  have  reason  to  commemo- 
rate its  exertions  with  grateful  admiration  ! 


*  The  author  rejoices  in  this  public  opportunity  of  rendering  a  juit 
tribute  to  the  Clergy  of  Baton.  He  hopes  it  will  not  be  less  grateful,  in 
coming  from  a  person  who  was  educated  in  that  religious  persuasion, 
which  teaches  every  man  to  be  his  own  priest. 


Lib: 
N.  C.   State   Coll 


APPENDIX, 

The  following  letters  are  inserted  here  to  shew  the  interest  which  the 
renowned  Washington  took  in  the  prosperity  of  the  first  Humane  Society , 
established  in  the  nation  over  which  he  presided.  Although  a  part 
only  of  his  letter  to  the  Reverend  Dr.  Latbrop  relates  to  the  Humane 
Society,  yet  I  cannot  resist  the  impulse  of  publishing  the  whole ;  because 
everv  thing  that  contributes  to  the  consolidation  of  the  union  of  these 
states  is  as  dear  to  humanity  as  the  life  of  man  itself.  B.  W. 

Cambridge,  July  4,  1811. 


Mount  Vernon,  June  22d,  1788. 

REVEREND    AND    RESPECTED    SIR, 

Your  acceptable  favour  of  the  I6th  of  May, 
covering  a  recent  publication  of  the  Humane  Socie- 
ty, has  within  a  few  days  past,  been  put  into  my 
hands. 

I  observe,  with  singular  satisfaction,  the  cases  in 
which  your  benevolent  institution  has  been  instru- 
mental in  recalling  some  of  our  fellow  creatures  (as 
it  were)  from  beyond  the  gates  of  eternity,  and  has 
given  occasion  for  the  hearts  of  parents  and  friends 
to  leap  for  joy.  The  provision  made  for  shipwreck- 
ed mariners  is  also  highly  estimable  in  the  view  of 
every  philanthropic  mind,  and  greatly  consolatory  to 
that  suffering  part  of  the  community.  These  things 
will  draw  upon  you  the  blessings  of  those  who  were 
nigh  to  perish.     These  works  of  charity  and  good 


262  APPENDIX. 

will  towards  men  reflect,  in  my  estimation,  great 
lustre  upon  the  authors,  and  .presage  an  zera  of  still 
farther  improvements.  How  pitiful,  in  the  eye  of 
reason  and  religion,  is  that  false  ambition  which  des- 
olates the  world  with  fire  and  sword  for  the  purpos- 
es of  conquest  and  fame ;  when  compared  to  the 
milder  virtues  of  making  our  neighbours  and  our 
fellow  men  as  happy  as  their  frail  conditions  and 
perishable  natures  will  permit  them  to  be  ! 

I  am  happy  to  find  that  the  proposed  general  gov- 
ernment meets  with  your  approbation,  as  indeed  it 
does  with  that  of  most  disinterested  and  discerning 
men.  The  convention  of  this  state  is  now  in  ses- 
sion, and  I  cannot  but  hope  that  the  constitution  will 
be  adopted  by  it,  though  not  without  considerable 
opposition.  I  trust,  however,  that  the  commenda- 
ble example  exhibited  by  the  minority  in  your  State 
will  not  be  without  its  salutary  influence  in  this.  In 
truth  it  appears  to  me  that  (should  the  proposed 
government  be  generally  and  harmoniously  adopted) 
it  will  be  a  new  phenomenon  in  the  political  and 
moral  world ;  and  an  astonishing  victory  gained  by 
enlightened  reason  over  brutal  force.  I  have  the 
honour  to  be  with  very  great  consideration, 
Reverend  and  respected  sir, 

your  most  obedient,  and  humble  servant, 
GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

THE    REV.  JOHN  LATHROP,  D.  D. 


'APPENDIX.  263 

Mount  Vernon,  November  I9thy  1790. 
Sir, 

I  beg  you  to  excuse  the  delay,  which  my 
avocations  in  the  country  have  occasioned  in  an- 
swering your  letter  of  the  28th  of  August. 

I  am  persuaded  of  the  happy  influence,  which 
the  Discourse,  that  accompanied  it,  must  have  in 
promoting  the  interests  of  humanity  ;#  and  I  re- 
quest you  to  accept  my  thanks  for  your  polite  at- 
tention in  favouring  me  with  this  mark  of  your  re- 
gard. 

I  am,  sir, 

your  most  obedient  servant, 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

Benjamin  Waterhouse,  M.  D.  and  Professor  in 
the  University  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 

*  The  preceding  Discourse  on  the  Principle  of  Vitality 


ERRATA. 
Page  88,  line  8  from  bottom,  in  a  few  copies,  ib''  (' 
read  Claris. 


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